The Declaration of Paris

We, the representatives of Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Laos, Luxemburg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tunisia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, Vietnam, the Asian Development Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM), the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Centre for the Archaeology and Fine Arts (SEAMEO/SPAFA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Bank, the World Monuments Fund (WMF) and the World Tourism Organization (WTO), meeting a the Second Intergovernmental Conference for the Safeguarding and Sustainable Development of the Historic Site of Angkor and of its region, held in Paris on November 14 and 15, 2003, adopt the following :

1- We pay tribute to His Majesty Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia and Honorary Chairman of the International Coordinating Committee for Angkor, for his personal commitment to the safeguarding and development of the site and its region ;

2- We pay tribute to the action undertaken by the Royal Government for its ongoing involvement in this programme ;

3- We acknowledge that the mechanism of the International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor has enabled the successful achievement of the goals of the Tokyo Declaration (13 October 1993). We express our sincere appreciation to France and Japan for handing the responsibility of co-chairmanship and to UNESCO for its unflagging and very efficacious services as Secretariat of the ICC ;

4- We extend our warm congratulations to the Cambodian authorities, in particular to the APSARA Authority, for the efforts put forth in recent years to ensure the safeguarding and development of Angkor. We encourage them to strengthen the human resources of the APSARA Authority, and its financial resources, if feasible with the shortest possible delay, by implementing appropriate regulatory, legal and administrative measures so that this public institution can fully assume its role as partner of the international community, permanent project owner and, as required, main contractor for the work to be done ;

5- With reference to the Tokyo Declaration of October 13, 1993, we express our satisfaction with the plurality and quality of what is being done to improve the knowledge, safeguarding and development of the eco-historic site of Angkor and express our deep gratitude to the countries, organizations and scientific institutions that have contributed to safeguarding the monuments and preserving the site. We encourage them to give increased attention to archaeological, epigraphical and historical research and to make appropriate means available ;

6- We reaffirm our intention to pursue international cooperation in the framework of the International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the site of Angkor by strengthening the role of the APSARA Authority within this mechanism and by maintaining the integrated, multidisciplinary approach of the Committee, as well as the spirit of cooperation that characterizes its activities ;

7- We invite the international organizations and scientific institutions that have contributed to the safeguarding of the monuments to contribute to the elaboration of a methodological document on the ethics and practice of conservation at Angkor (conservation, showcasing and development), based on the recommendations submitted during this conference by the ad hoc working group on the points of reference for integrated sustainable tourism, as well as on the draft Bayon Charter being prepared by the Japanese Government Team for Safeguarding Angkor (JSA) ;

8- We warmly welcome the new partners of the kingdom of Cambodia and invite them to work with the ICC in harmonizing their project proposals for heritage preservation, environmental protection and the accommodation of the local communities;

9- We affirm the need to direct our efforts in keeping with sustainable development as outlined at the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development (September 2002), in the “Declaration” made by President Chirac and the Statement made by Prime Minister Kizumi on that occasion, as will as in the Millennium Speech made by the Secretary General of the United Nations ;

10- We recognize that sustainable ethical tourism can furthermore contribute to the dialogue among cultures and civilizations, to the recognition of the values of cultural diversity and to the strengthening of solidarity and peace ;

11- With this in mind, we recognize the need to develop sustainable ethical tourism in the Siem Reap / Angkor region as a tool in the fight against poverty. We stress the importance of seeing to it that the local communities in this zone and around the Tonle Sap are involved in the promotion of this policy in order to highlight the diversity of their tangible and intangible cultural resources and to offer them access to education and training as well as employment opportunities and a meaningful cultural life ;

12- With a view to attaining sustainable development, we recommend that development projects in the province of Siem Reap / Angkor be discussed in all their aspects, particularly, economic, social and environmental, within the framework of the periodic meetings of the ICC. The planning of these projects should also be reported to the World Heritage Committee, in line with the operational guidelines of the implementation of the World Heritage Convention ;

13- We recall the need for the necessary transfer of know-how between international experts and their Cambodian counterparts and encourage all international teams to contribute to the promotion of university training and research. We also invite the APSARA Authority to Coordinate all initiatives that will be taken in the area of on-site training ;

14- We encourage the pooling of knowledge and information about Angkor through active and ongoing support to the International Documentation Centre for Angkor (APSARA/UNESCO) and call stakeholders regularly to forward to it documents concerning their past and present activities ;

15- We express our satisfaction with the steps being taken to ensure safety and security at the Angkor site through demining operations and efforts to prevent archaeological looting. However, we address a solemn appeal to all members of the international community so that a genuine network of solidarity may be developed to extend looting preventing measures to other sites in Cambodia ;

16- We express our satisfaction that the international mechanism for cooperation that has proven efficient with regard to knowledge, conservation and development of the World Heritage Site of Angkor is now starting to be viewed as a model for other similar actions throughout the world. We will see to it that this mechanism continues to strengthen the activities, projects and programmes implemented by Cambodia to promote national reconciliation, social cohesion and the affirmation of cultural identity ;

17- We agree to hold a third conference, at a suitable time, in order to examine the progress made and to debate the need for new actions. This conference could be held in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Paris, November 15, 2003