The Asia-Pacific Regional Secretariat of the Organization of World Heritage Cities Organization (OWHC), an international NGO whose Asia-Pacific branch is hosted by the City of Gyeongju (Secretary-General Ju Nak-yeong, Mayor of Gyeongju), attended a three-day international conference on "Key Strategies and Opportunities for Tourism Development in Turkmenistan" hosted by the Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan from 20 (Mon) to 22 (Wed) March.

The delegates from the Gyeongju and OWHC Asia-Pacific Regional Secretariat (OWHC-AP) successfully completed the official itinerary such as attending the conference and visiting related institutions, but also achieved excellent results in promoting the 4^th OWHC-AP Regional Conference to be held in Gyeongju in 2023 as well as Gyeongju’s bid for 2025 APEC Summit.

On the first day of the official schedule, at the International Conference Hall attended by the Prime Minister of Turkmenistan (Mamedova Myahrijemal), Ji Eun Lee, the Cultural and Heritage Advisor of the OWHC Asia-Pacific Regional Secretariat, gave more a talk titled “A Direction of Global Tourism” before giving more than 10 interviews to the national broadcaster (Turkmenistan), regional broadcasters ("Atyen Asyr", "Miras", "Yashlyk"), foreign broadcasters (Mir24), local newspapers and magazines. Her interviews were widely broadcasted, boosting the promotional efforts of the City of Gyeongju for its APEC bid and OWHC-AP Regional Conference.

In addition, the delegates met with the Deputy Minister of Culture of Turkmenistan, Nursahet Shrimov, and discussed to further the cultural exchanges and cooperation between the two cities, as well as for the mutual collaboration on the session titled "Ancient Silk Road Route and World Heritage Cities" at the Experts’ Workshop of the 4^th OWHC-AP Regional Conference.

On the second day, Tuesday 21st, the delegates attended Nowrus, a cultural festival in the spring spanning the Central Asia region, which is registered as a World Intangible Heritage Site, to understand the actual situation of preservation and utilization of local intangible heritage. The information will be used to plan the agenda of the Asia-Pacific Regional Congress in September themed "Strengthening the Capacity of World Heritage Cities through the Utilization of Tangible and Intangible Heritage."

On Thursday 23rd after the conclusion of the international conference, the delegates were invided to the National University of Culture of Turkmenistan. In a seminar with more than 300 professors and students, including the president of the university (Yazyev Anamuhamed), gathered, Mr. Cho, the General Manager of the OWHC-AP, quoted the words of Kim Koo, a renowned activist for Korean independence during the Japanese Colonization era, "There is nothing else that I want more than the power of culture." Mr. Cho then went on to propose the possibility of cultural cooperation and development between the two countries, drawing loud applause and response from the participants. During their official business trip, the Gyeongju/OWHC-AP delegates left a profound impression on the hundreds of people of various nationalities, both official and unofficial, who were not even be familiar with the name of the city "Gyeongju" by greeting each and every one of them and showing and giving them promotional banners, souvenirs, and brochures with the name of Gyeongju City imprinted on.

The Deputy Director of the Cultural Ministry of Turkmenistan, Yak-yeva Gulshot, said that "Turkmenistan is a permanent neutral country approved by the UN, has abundant underground resources, and numerous tangible and intangible heritage, adding, "We will do our best to build mutually beneficial relations through exchanges with K-culture and Korea, a cultural powerhouse with many historical and cultural heritages, and Gyeongju, a historical and cultural city.”