ISLAMABAD, March 2: Unesco is considering bringing 12 more cultural sites of Pakistan to the World Heritage List for enhancing the cultural importance of the country.

This was stated by Ingeborg Breines, director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, while talking to newsmen at the inaugural ceremony of Truck Art exhibition here on Saturday.

She said a decision to this effect would soon be taken at a meeting of Unesco’s special committee. The exhibition, which will continue till March 7, has been organized by Save the Children, an NGO, at its craft shop.

She said there were already six Pakistani cultural sites on the World Heritage list, that is Takht Bhai, Texila, Rohtas Fort, Moenjodaro, Lahore Fort and Shalimar Garden.

The Unesco representative said that the preservation of cultural sites must be attractive for the visitors, adding other facilities such as restaurants, souvenir shops, etc., should be provided to attract tourists.

She said that Unesco was assisting Pakistan in creating awareness about what it had and added it was very important to involve community in the preservation of sites.

Inaugurating the exhibition earlier, she said the Pakistan National Council of the Arts was planning another truck art exhibition in September. There would be a competition among truck painters, she added.

She said that efforts should be made to introduce the truck art and artists at the international level, adding it was extremely important to support the artists to strengthen their status.

“If the artists are not respected well in society we will not have enough creativity in the country,” she said.—APP