The 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee is being held in Busan, the Republic of Korea, from July 19 to 29, with Armenia participating as a committee member for the first time.

Armenia’s delegation includes Harutyun Vanyan, head of the Department for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments at the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, along with five national experts. The delegation is led by Aram Hakobyan, Armenia’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO.

According to the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Armenia’s nomination entitled “Areni-1 Cave: Prehistoric Life and Winemaking in the Arpa River Valley” has been approved for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List.

The nomination was prepared under a memorandum of cooperation previously signed between the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, the Areni-1 Cave Research Foundation, and the Armenian Enotourism Council NGO, with financial support provided by the Armenian Enotourism Council. The ministry described the initiative as another successful example of public-private partnership.

The newly listed nomination, along with all of Armenia’s previously registered nominations, is available on UNESCO’s official website.

With this addition, Armenia has expanded the number of its properties on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List from the four sites registered in 1995 to eight, following consistent efforts over the past three years.