Mr. Do Dinh Hong – Director of Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, and Ms. Patcharaon Wongkumhaeng – Deputy Governor of Sukhothai Province chaired the meeting.
At the meeting, both sides introduced and exchanged potentials, strengths, experiences and process of building and developing the Creative City; identified possibilities of mutual cooperation and learning when both localities are members of UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
Accordingly, in the process of building the Creative City, Sukhothai province has developed a development plan with strategic orientations; focused on building projects to promote community strengths, and available potentials; combined preservation of identity with creativity; actively expanded cooperation relations, participated in forums, meet and learnt from experiences with cities in the Network; coordinated with organizations and individuals, especially universities, experts, etc.
Mr. Do Dinh Hong discussed at the meeting.
Members of the Delegation of Sukhothai Province discussed at the meeting.
The delegation of Sukhothai province also said that in developing the Creative City, it is necessary to pay special attention to sustainable development, keep activities adhered to the United Nations’ sustainable development goals; implement commitments with UNESCO on local empowerment, bring practical benefits to people and communities; promote awareness and participation of the people in construction and development of the Creative City, etc.
Its members also expressed their impression of the craft village’s products, active participation of the people and the community when they visited Bat Trang pottery village and some craft villages in Hanoi and learned about their situations. They also suggested activities that can be cooperated in the near future such as organizing artisan exchanges between the two cities, joint training sessions on artisans’ skills under UNESCO’s support.
Talking to the delegation of Sukhothai province, Mr. Do Dinh Hong thanked the Deputy Governor and members of the delegation for taking time to visit and exchange and share valuable experiences on development of Creative City of Sukhothai province.
Mr. Do Dinh Hong and Ms. Patcharaon Wongkumhaeng presented souvenirs which were traditional handicraft products of Hanoi and Sukhothai province.
Mr. Do Dinh Hong said that unlike Sukhothai province which chose handicrafts and folk performing arts, Hanoi’s choice for design as a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network matched its characteristics, potentials and advantages; matched the interests and needs of the community; was inclusive, promoted development of the remaining aspects. Over the past time, Hanoi has implemented many specific activities to promote development of the Creative City in design.
At the end of the meeting, the two sides highly appreciated their achievements, and expressed their wish that both would continue to exchange and cooperate in the future to promote the development of their Creative City.
Ha Phuong