19 August. On 29 June, the Director-General participated in a meeting of the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Institution.

Present were: Dr Richard Kurin, Acting Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture Director, Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and Roger W. Sant, distinguished benefactor of the Institution.

24 June. On 17 June, the Director-General participated as general rapporteur in the international Symposium on 'Heritage and Sustainable development: a question of education?'. The event was organized by the Association Vieilles Maisons Françaises (VMF) in commemoration of their 50th anniversary (1958 - 2008).

The symposium was inaugurated by the President of VMF, Mr Philippe Toussaint; the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koichiro Matsuura; and Mr Michel Clément, Director, Direction de l'architecture et du patrimoine, French Ministry of Culture.

On this occasion, the Director-General of ICCROM also met Mrs Françoise Rivière, Assistant Director-General for Culture at UNESCO and Alain Godonou, Director of EPA (Ecole du Patrimoine Africain), Bénin.

24 June. On 16 June, the Director-General attended the General Assembly of the States Parties to the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. He met H.E. Mr Mohammed Bedjaoui, President of the first General Assembly of the States Parties to the 2003 Convention, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria, and President of the International Court of Justice in the Hague; and Mr Sid Ahmed Baghli, Permanent Delegation of Algeria to UNESCO.

24 June. On 12-14 June, the Director-General participated as cultural heritage expert to the Sixth Summit of the Heads of State of South-East Europe that took place in Athens under the aegis of UNESCO. The summit focussed on 'Intercultural encounters on maritime, river and lake routes of South-East Europe.'

On 12 June, the Director-General was a member of the Expert Group Meeting, held at Sunion, to prepare the Draft Athens Declaration of Heads of State. The meeting was chaired by Mrs Elena Korka, Head, Directorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and ICCROM Council Member. Following the amendments and modifications, the final version was submitted to the Heads of State on the morning of 13 June in Athens.

During the summit the Director-General met the following Heads of State: H.E. Mr Barmi Topi, President of the Republic of Albania; H.E. Mr Haris Silajdžić, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina; H.E. Mr Georgi Parvanov, President of the Republic of Bulgaria; H.E. Mr Stjepan Mesić, President of the Republic of Croatia; H.E. Mr Karolos Papoulias, President of Greece; H.E. Mr Filip Vujanović, President of Montenegro; H.E. Mr Boris Tadić, President of the Republic of Serbia; and the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koichiro Matsuura.

He also met the following Greek cultural authorities: Mr Michaelis Liapis, Minister of Culture; Mr Thodoris Dravillas, Secretary General, Hellenic Ministry of Culture; Ms Vivi Vassilopoulou, Director-General of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, Hellenic Ministry of Culture; H.E. Ambassador Mr Alexandros Rallis, Director of the Office of Cooperation with International Organizations, Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Further meetings included: Mrs Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni, Director-General of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports of the Council of Europe; H. E. Ambassador Mrs Tatiana Gjonaj, Permanent Delegate of Albania to UNESCO; and H. E. Ambassador Almir Šahović, Permanent Delegate of Bosnia and Herzegovina to UNESCO; and H. E. Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to France, Mr Mirko Galić, also Permanent Delegate of the Republic of Croatia to UNESCO.

11 June. On 11 June, the Director-General visited the Reparto Operativo del Comando Carabinieri Tutela Patrimonio Culturale (CC TPC) where he was met by General Giovanni Nistri, Comandante dei Carabinieri per la tutela del patrimonio culturale, and Lt. Col. Raffaele Mancino. He toured the three units that make up the recovery squad (antiquities, archaeology and fakes) and the strongroom where the recovered material is kept. He was accompanied by Maria Teresa Jaquinta, Liaison Officer (Co-operation with Italy) ICCROM.

11 June. On 1 - 5 June, the Director-General visited Cambodia and examined the site of Angkor with an ad hoc group of experts which  includes Giorgio Croci, Pierre André Lablaude and Hiroyuki Suzuki. They later participated in the Seventeenth Meeting of the International Coordination Committee for the Safeguarding and the Development of the Historic Site of Angkor (ICC-Angkor).

His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni presided over the inauguration ceremony at the Baphuon Temple for the consecration of the reclining Buddha. During the ceremony the Director-General also met several Cambodian Government,  including: Samdech Chauvea Veang Kong Som Ol, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Royal Palace; H.E. Mr Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the APSARA National Authority in charge of the maintenance of the Angkor Temples; and H.E. Ambassador of France to Cambodia Jean-François Desmazières, who is also Co-President of ICC-Angkor.

Also present: H.E. Ambassador of Australia to Cambodia, Mrs Margaret Adamson, Prof. Roland Fletcher, Sydney University, and H. E. Mrs Irène Rabenoro Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Madagascar to UNESCO.

During the site visits they carried out technical surveys of work being carried out at Angkor Wat by the World Monuments Fund on the Gallery of the Churning of the Sea of Milk, the Western Causeway to Angkor where work has recently been concluded by Sophia University and site visits to Phnom Bakheng and Ko Ker.

The group also visited the restoration project of the Temple Ta Prohm carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The Director-General met Mr Anshu Vaish the Director-General of the ASI; Dr B.R. Mani, Joint Director General; and other conservation experts working on this project.

see also

• ICC-Angkor meetings
• King Norodom Sihamoni website
• Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient