Press Releases
Signing of Exchange of Notes concerning Cultural Grant Assistance to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
1. On February 26, Mr. SUZUKA Mitsuji, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Afghanistan, and Mr. Jordan Naidoo, UNESCO Representative to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, signed and exchanged notes in Kabul, concerning Cultural Grant Assistance of up to 423 million yen for the project for Sustainable Management of the World Heritage property in Bamiyan.
2. In 2001, Taliban destroyed the Giant Buddha statues of Bamiyan Valley. The World Heritage Committee inscribed the site on the World Heritage List and simultaneously the list of World Heritage in Danger in 2003 to protect and preserve this site as the world heritage property.
3. This project is expected to make a significant contribution in relating to sustainable protection of cultural heritage in Afghanistan, economic growth and job creation as well as the removal of Bamiyan from the List of World Heritage in Danger by the stabilization work of the West Buddha niche and the establishment of Afghanistan National World Heritage Centre in Bamiyan.
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Afghanistan land area is 65.2 square kilometers (1.7 times larger than that of Japan), its population is around 37.17 million (World Bank, 2018) and GNI per capita is 550 USD (World Bank, 2018).
