Hanoi (VNA) – The Nguyen Dynasty's golden imperial seal of “Hoang de chi bao” (Treasure of theEmperor) was handed over to Vietnam at a ceremony held at the VietnameseEmbassy in France on November 16, said the Department of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST).

The handover tookplace in the presence of Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism NguyenVan Hung, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Dinh Toan Thang, Permanent Representativeof Vietnam to UNESCO Le Thi Hong Van, and officials of the French Ministry forEurope and Foreign Affairs and UNESCO.

This came as a resultof more than one year of negotiation and implementation of legal procedures onhalting the open auction of the seal, cast in 1823 under the reign of King Minh Mang, in Paris in November 2022, and handing over the object to Vietnam atthe country’s request.

The HoangGia Nam Hong Co. Ltd, based in the northern province of Bac Ninh, was chosen torepresent Vietnam to handle related financial procedures in line with Frenchlaw. It will also preserve and display the seal and coordinate with the VietnamNational Museum of History to protect and bring into play the antique’s value.

On November 12, 2022, theDepartment of Culture Heritage and the Nam Hong company signed an agreement on negotiatingthe purchase of the seal from France and transferring it to the State.

Under the deal, the company pledged that the sealwill be transferred to the State via the MCST after a suitable period of timewhen the firm no longer has demand for possessing, displaying, and bringinginto play the seal’s value at the Hoang Gia Nam Hong Museum in Bac Ninh.

The departmentsaid that the “Hoang de chi bao” seal is an important cultural heritage symbolisingpolitical power in a period of Vietnam’s history and also marking the transitionfrom monarchy to the people’s democracy in the Ho Chi Minh era.

The collection andrepatriation of the golden seal are aimed at not only perfecting thecollections of antiquities, treasures, and cultural heritage elements illegallybrought abroad but also affirming the country’s stature and influence. The movealso shows the Party and State’s judicious policy of preserving and bringinginto play cultural heritage values to meet people’s growing cultural enjoymentdemand, promote the national pride, and develop an advanced Vietnamese culturedeeply imbued with the national identity and contributing to the world’scultural heritage.

It is also necessary for ensuringthe integrity of cultural heritage, which UNESCO attaches importance to duringcultural heritage preservation, thus demonstrating Vietnam’s implementation of commitmentsin the international conventions it has joined, the department noted.

The department also attributed the sealrepatriation success to the cooperation from authorities, partners, friends,and the Vietnamese community in France.

In thetime ahead, it will propose MCST leaders consider coordinating with relevantministries and sectors to compile a list of Vietnamese antiquities illegally broughtabroad and consult with the UNESCO Secretariat of the 1970 Convention about thelist to seek measures for repatriating the antiquities./.