On the Road to Explore Silk Road Pearls

On the Road to Explore Silk Road Pearls

September 06, 2006

-- The Silk Road Provides the Backdrop for a Modern-day Caravan as a Government-Sponsored Convoy Set Off Today on a Promotional Tour to Revive the Ancient Trail's Spirit for the Benefit of Present Day Development

    BEIJING, Sept. 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- The Silk Road
Pearl City Road Show was launched in Beijing today, seeing
off a car team that will travel along the Chinese section
of the ancient route to promote Silk Road cities in China
and promote their further development.  China International
Centre for Economic and Technical Exchanges (CICETE), under
the Ministry of Commerce, has organized the three-week road
show in cooperation with UNDP's Silk Road Initiative to
encourage these cities to apply for the UN Silk Road City
Awards scheduled for the end of this year.

    Visiting a range of cities along the way,
representatives from the Chinese Government, the media, the
private sector and the international community will travel
from Rizhao and Lianyungang in the east, to Urumqi in the
west on a quest to revive the concept of innovation and
cooperation which created the great Silk Road.  Driving
along the Euro-Asian Continental Bridge, the publicizing
car team will cross 10,000 miles through eight provinces
and autonomous regions to reach Urumqi on 20 September. 

    "The Silk Road Pearl City Road Show together with
the UN Silk Road City Awards will bring out the
characteristics of each city, while encouraging them to
learn from each other in areas such as urban planning,
tourism development, social mobilization," said Wang
Yue, Director General of the CICETE. "Along the way we
hope to generate investment in lesser developed areas of
China, thus giving new life to these historic
places."

    The Silk Road Initiative (SRI) is launching the UN Silk
Road City Awards as an incentive for Silk Road cities to
draw on their cultural heritage to develop sustainable
tourism infrastructure and urban planning.  As a regional
UNDP program, the initiative is meant to enhance
cooperation and integration between China and the four
Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
and Uzbekistan, particularly in trade, investment and
tourism. 

    During the Road Show, city candidates will formally
lodge their application to participate in the contest.  The
event will serve as a pre-selection stage of Chinese cities
to be presented for the award.  Based on criteria such as
respect for tradition, openness, innovation and sustainable
strategies, a panel of international experts will select
four to five cities which demonstrate successful
implementation of these ideals and award them the title of
the 'UN Silk Road City'.

    "The SRI uses the slogan Future built on
tradition.  The Silk Road is a valuable tradition that can
inspire us today and help us build better societies,"
said Wojciech H¨¹bner, Chief Technical Advisor of the SRI.
"The Silk Road connected people across borders and
created a prosperous environment which thrived on a mix of
cultures, languages and religions.  In today's complex
times with cultural and religious confrontations, this past
tradition becomes all the more relevant and provides a
foundation for cooperation on a local level as well as on
an international scale."

    For more information on the SR Road Show, please visit:
http://sroad.sotrip.com/index.htm .

    UNDP fosters human development to empower women and men
to build better lives in China.  As the UN's development
network, UNDP draws on a world of experience to assist
China in developing its own solutions to the country's
development challenges.  Through partnerships and
innovation, UNDP works to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals and an equitable Xiao Kang society by
reducing poverty, strengthening the rule of law, promoting
environmental sustainability, and fighting HIV/AIDS.
http://www.undp.org.cn 

    For more information, please contact:
 
     Ms. Line Konstad
     UNV PR Coordinator for Silk Road Initiative, UNDP
China 
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: line.konstad @public.un.org.cn 
     Web:   http://www.silkroad.undp.org.cn 

SOURCE  United Nations Development Programme