Minister of Culture: The national plan to register elements of cultural heritage on UNESCO lists supports cultural tourism
ABU DHABI, 26 JANUARY / WAM / His Excellency Sheikh Salem bin Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of Culture, confirmed that the national plan to register elements of cultural heritage on the lists of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), reflects the leadership’s vision in preserving, preserving and promoting cultural heritage, consolidating the status of our national heritage as a tributary to cultural and economic development, enhancing the UAE’s presence on the international scene, and consolidating its soft power.
His Excellency said: “Registering elements of cultural heritage on UNESCO lists contributes to enhancing the country’s competitiveness on international cultural and tourism indicators, and supports the integration of national efforts in preserving heritage and employing it within development paths, ensuring its sustainability and enhancing its presence and value locally and globally.”
His Excellency Sheikh Salem bin Khalid Al Qasimi pointed out that the national plan to register elements of cultural heritage on UNESCO lists comes within the framework of promoting cultural tourism as a pillar of economic diversification, within the National Tourism Strategy 2031, which aims to raise the tourism sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product of the national economy to 450 billion dirhams.
The Cabinet, headed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, approved the national plan to register elements of cultural heritage on the UNESCO lists during its meeting at Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi, in a strategic step aimed at preserving the Emirati cultural heritage and enhancing its presence regionally and globally.
The national plan is based on a comprehensive vision developed by the Ministry of Culture in cooperation with local cultural bodies, relevant government agencies, and civil society, including experts and specialists, with the aim of building a road map to determine registration priorities and raise the readiness of heritage sites and elements, in line with international best practices.
UNESCO’s main lists include the World Heritage List, which includes more than 1,200 cultural and natural sites of exceptional universal value, the Intangible Cultural Heritage List, which contains about 840 intangible elements such as performing arts, social practices, and traditional crafts, in addition to the Memory of the World List of documentary heritage, and the List of Commemorations of Outstanding Historical Figures and Events.
The UAE currently has two sites registered on the UNESCO World Heritage List, namely the Al Ain sites, which were registered in 2014
2011, and the Al Faya site in the Emirate of Sharjah, which was listed in 2025, because this region has exceptional global value, as it maintains one of the oldest and longest continuous records of human presence in desert environments, dating back more than 200 thousand years.
The country tops the list of intangible cultural heritage with 21 items registered, and three figures are registered in the list of anniversary celebrations.
The national plan seeks to achieve ambitious goals by 2036, which include increasing the number of World Heritage sites to six sites, increasing the number of items on the list of intangible cultural heritage to 44 items while maintaining the Arab lead, registering at least four items on the Memory of the World list, in addition to increasing the number of national figures and events registered on the list of commemorations to 12 items.
The plan also includes organizing intensive workshops with local partners to identify priority heritage sites and elements, and setting clear criteria for selecting the most ready elements. These efforts contribute to promoting sustainable development goals, building national capacities in the areas of documenting and preserving heritage, and fulfilling international obligations, in addition to supporting regional and international cooperation through joint nomination files.
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