The ministry sent the files of ca tru to UNESCO on March 13, seeking this organisation’s recognition of ca tru as an intangible culture heritage that needs urgent protection.

The file includes two parts: major documents and supporting materials. The major part comprises 24 pages of writing about ca tru, a 10-minute clip about the values of, the threats facing and the urgent need for protecting ca tru and a set of ten photos about ca tru.

The supportive materials include a 60-minute film, a set of 30 photos, a map of the places where ca tru exists and three books about ca tru.

All of the materials meet UNESCO’s requirements and are in Vietnamese and English.

Tran Thi Kim Dung, the chief of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Management Division under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that this file began to be compiled in 2005.

According to Paris-based International UNESCO, it will send comments about the file to Vietnam as soon as possible. Vietnam has to amend and send the file back to UNESCO before June 25, 2009. UNESCO will evaluate the files in September 2009.

Tuan Hai