The United States supports Cambodia in documenting its cultural property and recovering its missing antiquities

Kuala Lumpur, Aug 31 (KUNA) -- The United States has granted Cambodia $132,000 to establish a national digital database for cultural heritage, during a visit by Kate Dillon, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, to the National Museum in the Cambodian capital. The initiative aims to strengthen the kingdom’s capacity to document, protect, and recover movable cultural property that has been lost or illegally exported.

According to a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia, as reported today by Khmer Times, the grant will fund the development of a national digital database that integrates inventory records from Cambodia’s key heritage institutions, thereby enhancing the country’s ability to document and safeguard movable cultural assets and to recover items that have been lost or illicitly exported.

The newspaper reported that Cambodian Minister of Culture and Fine Arts, Vong Sakhona, received U.S. official Dillon during her museum visit, where she learned about the museum’s role in promoting Cambodian culture and history, and viewed the exhibited artifacts. These items are among more than 900 Cambodian antiquities repatriated by the United States to Cambodia.

Sakhona expressed her gratitude to the U.S. government for supporting Cambodia’s efforts to preserve its ancient temples, which constitute an integral part of the nation’s cultural heritage. She noted that both countries are committed to close cooperation to prevent the trafficking and illegal export of Cambodian cultural property, as well as to work toward the repatriation of antiquities lost during the war and decades of crisis.

The newspaper added that the $132,000 U.S. grant was provided under the Cultural Property Implementation Act to support the project “Protecting Movable Cultural Heritage through a Shared Database and Capacity Building,” aimed at enhancing Cambodia’s ability to manage and protect its movable cultural property by using a digital system to register and manage information related to heritage items.

It noted that this project reflects the ongoing cultural cooperation between Cambodia and the United States, particularly through the Cultural Property Agreement signed by the two countries in 2003. (End)