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SANA'A, May 28 (Saba) – Minister of Tourism Nabil al-Faqih returned home on Thursday after participating in the the First Conference of the Architectural Heritage in Islamic countries, held in Saudi Arabia during May 23-28.

In a statement to Saba, The conference reviewed a number of papers on tourism and historic cities, most notably of these papers were those presented by UNESCO and devoted to the insertion of new historical cities within the World Heritage, al-Faqih pointed out, noting that Yemen in this regard is seeking to enter new cities, such as the cities of Trim, Thela, Alhjerin and other historical sites in the World Heritage List.

Al-Faqih pointed to the importance of the conference, which is the first of its kind, because it highlighted the tourist product and activities and the architectural heritage in the region and how to preserve it and the mechanism of its sustainability to be an important economic resource for communities.

He pointed out that Yemen participated in the exhibition accompanying the conference, in addition to participating with a number of papers summarized on the mechanisms for maintaining the historic city of Sana'a and mud construction and the employment of heritage sites as tourist attraction sites.

Moreover, al-Faqih indicated that he discussed, on the sideline of the conference, with Saudi officials in the tourist field means of boosting the bilateral cooperation and activating the memoranda of understanding between the two countries.

The two sides agreed that Prince Sultan bin Salman bi Abdul Aziz, Chairman of Supreme Commission for Tourism, would be the guest of honor at the Tourist Investment Conference to be held in Sana'a in next October, he added.

Furthermore, Al-Faqih discussed with a number of businessmen the investment in Yemen in the tourism sector, especially in light of openness witnessed by Yemen in the investment sector.

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Saba