Forum on Yangon city heritage conservation kicks off in Myanmar

A forum on heritage conservation and sustainable development in Myanmar's Yangon city kicked off here Thursday.

Organized by World Monument Fund (WMF) and Yangon Heritage Trust, the three-day forum attracted a total of 38 local and international contributors.

The city was included in the WMF Watch over a year ago.

The forum highlights discussions on major topics including strategies for shaping the historic urban center, conservation and urban sustainability, and planning for heritage conservation in Yangon.

Yangon Mayor U Hla Myint said, "If we can make our heritage an integral part of our planning for the future, if we can invest in one of our most important assets, we will create opportunities for sustainable growth that cannot be matched by other cities especially in Southeast Asia."

Noting that the existing buildings are one of the pillars of sustainability as there are values embedded in them, President of WMF Bonnie Burnham encouraged Yangon to think of the heritage as one of the building blocks of planning for the future.

In August last year, Myanmar planned expansion of Yangon, and the plan was suspended a month later in September due to issued related to bidding.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's railway transport authorities are considering transforming the century-old Yangon Central Railway Station this year, with an estimated investment of 2 billion to 2. 5 billion U. S. dollars.

So far, developers from 12 countries including Italy, France, Japan, Canada, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Malaysia as well as from local entities have submitted their requests for proposal. Endi