Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang, delivering opening address

In conjunction with the first anniversary of George Town's inscription as a Unesco World Heritage Site, a conference entitled Penang International Conference on Sustainable Cultural Development was held from 8-9 October, 2009. The conference was organised by Invest Penang, along with the Penang Development Corporation (PDC), Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP), and the George Town Heritage Office. g Hotel sponsored the venue. Other sponsors included the Ministry of Information Communication and Culture, ahnd the Japan Foundation.

I was one of the five rapporteurs involved in the conference, and recorded down the proceedings.

The conference was officiated by the Right Honorable Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang following the welcome address by Dato' Lee Kah Choon, Chairman of the Organising Committee.

The conference comprises four sessions held over two days. On the first day, the keynote address was given by Mr Tim Curtis, the Head of Culture Unit at UNESCO Bangkok. This was followed by a presentation introducing George Town World Heritage Site by Puan Maimunah bt Mohd Sharif, the Acting General Manager of the George Town World Heritage Office.

Day One

Session One was entitled Optimising Returns from Cultural Tourism. It was moderated by Dato' Tengku Idaura bt Tengku Ibrahim from the Cultural Heritage Advisory Team. The first presentation was entitled Capturing tourism revenue for the Conservation of Built and Intangible Heritage. It was presented by Mr Tran Van An, the Deputy Director of the Hoi An Centre for Monuments & Preservations, Vietnam. The second was entitled Developing your own Sustainable Style: Advice on envisioning World Heritage Sites as Cultural Tourism Products, presented by Dr Hillary du Cros from the Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao. The discussant was Dr Badaruddin Mohamed from the School of Housing, Building & Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Panelists were Mr Marco G. Battistotti from the Malaysian Association of Hoteliers, Mr Lawrence Koay from the Malaysian Inbound Tourism Association (MITA) and Ms Joann Khaw, Specialized Cultural Heritage Tour Guide.

Session Two, entitled Value adding to property and business in the World Heritage Site and its surroundings was held after lunch. It was moderated by Surveyor Lau Wai Seong, Director of Valuation @ Property Services Department at the Ministry of Finance. The first presentation was entitled Value Adding to a Cultural Site in Sri Lanke, by Mr Karl Stein of the Galle Fort Hotel, Sri Lanka. The second presentation was Economic Revitalization of Historic Kyoto by Prof. Yoshifumi Muneta from the Kyoto Prefecture University, Japan. The discussant was Ms Lim Yoke Mui from the School of Housing, Building & Planning at the Universiti Sains Malaysia. Panelists include Dr Goh Ban Lee, Fellow, Socio-Economic & Environmental Research Institute (SERI), Dr Teoh Poh Huat from Henry Butcher Malaysia, and Dr Noraini Abdullah from AGB Sdn Bhd.

At the conclusion of the second session, participants went on a site excursion and discussion of site issues. They were broken into six groups to visit six different sites within George Town.

Day Two

Session Three was held in the morning of the second day. It was entitled Developing all-win relationships with community organisations. The moderator was Ms Janet Pillai from Arts-Ed. The first presentation was Community Participation in China World Heritage Sites, by Hou Weidong, the Deputy Director of the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage. The second presentation was Community Involvement and Development in Conservation Practice: Learning from the Field, by Gurmeet Rai, the Director of CRCI, India. The discussant was Ms Lim Gaik Siang from the Penang Heritage Trust. Panelists were Dato' Najmudeen Kadeer of the Muslim League, Ms Loh-Lim Lin Lee of PAPA Project and Penang Heritage Trust, and Mr Tan Lye Hoe of Cheong Hoe Seah.

Session Four began in the late morning, and was entitled Effective Enabling and Enforcement: The Role of Government. It was moderated by the Honorable Chow Kon Yeow, State Executive Councillor for Local Government and Traffic Management. The first presentation was The Vigan City Heritage Conservation Program: A Tool for Development, by Ms Eva Marie S. Medina, Mayor of Vigan City. The second presentation was Heritage Guidelines and Incentive Schemes, by Verena Ong, Senior Heritage Specialist from Sydney. The discussant was Dr Lee Lik Meng of the School of Housing, Building & Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia. Panelists comprised Tuan Haji Zainuddin b. Ahmad, Director of Town & Country Planning Department, Penang, Puan Noorhanis Noordin of the Building Department, Penang Island Municipal Council, and a representative from the National Heritage Department, Ministry of Information, Communication & Culture.

Following lunch, there was an optional site visit to Loke Villa. After that, there were parallel workshops in four different rooms. The session was entitled Creating Partnerships & Moving Forward, and the workshops were:

• Business Cooperation
• Governance
• Information & Marketing Communication
• Creative Environement

The conference was wrapped up by Puan Maimunah bt Mohd Sharif with concluding remarks by Mr Tim Curtis.

That evening, a dinner was held at Suffolk House in conjunction with the presentation of the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation, by Mr Tim Curtis.

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