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World Tea Culture Industry Conference was organized by Korean Tea
Culture Association in Changwon City (Republic of Korea) from 13 to 16 May
2023. Participants from Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya,
Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam shared various dimensions
of tea culture in their countries and acknowledged its potential contribution to
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particularly to the reduction
of extreme poverty, the fight against hunger, the empowerment of women, and the
sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems. Participants expressed their deep
appreciation by the resolution of the 74th session of
the UN General Assembly (2019) to designate 21 May as International Tea Day and
decisions of the 17th session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the
Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2022) on inscription of the elements “Culture of
Tea, a symbol of identity, hospitality and social interaction in Azerbaijan and
Türkiye” and “Traditional tea processing techniques and associated social
practices in China” to the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage
of Humanity under the 2003 Convention. The need for concerted and collaborative
action towards securing multinational recognition of tea culture on the UNESCO
Representative List was emphasized during deliberations of participants. The strategy
for multinational nomination on tea culture along Silk Roads was presented by
the International Institute for Central Asian Studies (IICAS). Conference
adopted Changwon Declaration on World Tea Culture as platform for international
collaboration in preparation of the multinational nomination on tea culture.
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