MCHT in the process of submitting fermented tea leaf culture report to Ministry

05/03/2026 11:39

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Htet Nadi/Saw (NP News) - February 5

Daw Sandar Khin, chairwoman of the Myanmar Cultural Heritage Trust, told The Statesman that the collected information was submitted to the State Department to be submitted to the World Heritage Committee for the protection of Myanmar's fermented tea leaf (laphet) culture as a representative cultu­ral heritage of humanity.
To collect this information, the Mya­nmar Cultural Herita­ge Preservation Orga­nization, in collabo­ration with other social organ­izations, held a fermented tea leaf festival from February 11 to 14.
The collected information was then submitted to the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture, in the last week of February.
“The ministry is the focal point. Everything that has been collected were sent on February 24. It will all arrive on February 25. When it arrives, they check it and submit it to the Union Government office. Then, if it agrees, it will be given to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send it to the UNESCO Ambassador to Myanmar in Paris,” she said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will then send it to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) department through the Myanmar Embassy in Paris, France, before March 31, 2026.
Daw Sandar Khin also said that there is historical evidence that Myanmar's fermented tea leaf culture dates back to thousands of years.
Currently, Myanmar's fermented tea leaf culture will be submitted as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and the Myanmar traditional Thanakha ritual had been submitted to UNESCO in 2025, so a decision is expected by the end of this year.
The Myanmar traditional Thingyan festival was included in UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list for the first time in 2024.
The inventory of intangible cultural heritage in Myanmar from each region and state has resulted in 104 items for language, oral traditions and expressions, 506 for performing arts, 651 for social customs and festivals, 199 for knowledge and practices related to knowledge and customs, and 829 for traditional crafts, resulting in a total of 2,289 items being designated as the First National Intangible Cultural Heritage Register. –