PHNOM PENH: King Norodom Sihamoni announced he will be leaving for France on November 12 to attend UNESCO’s 4th Intergovernmental Conference on Angkor in Paris.

In a royal letter dated November 10, the King affirmed that in his absence, Senate President Say Chhum will be Acting Head of State. The King did not specify a date for his return to Cambodia.

The Conference on Angkor’s preservation is to be held on November 15 at UNESCO Headquarters, in Paris, France. There, leaders will set policies and instructions for strengthening the effectiveness of good governance, conservation, and sustainable development of Angkor and Sambor Prei Kuk in the Kampong Thom Province.

The conference is held every ten years beginning in Tokyo, Japan in 1993 after Angkor was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The second conference was held in Paris in 2003 and the third in Cambodia in 2013. In 2019, the committee was expanded to include Sambor Prei Kuk to help conservation efforts at the famous archaeological site in Kampong Thom.