ICESCO's Bridges of Civilisation programme opens a Dhofar chapter with Oman

Oman hosted an ICESCO delegation in Dhofar from 25 to 28 August under the organisation's Bridges of Civilisation programme, run by its General Secretariat of National Commissions and Conferences to build direct working ties between ICESCO and member states. The delegation spent the visit on the ground rather than in a conference hall: the Land of Frankincense UNESCO sites and the production methods and economic history behind them, then Wadi Darbat, Ain Razat, Wadi Nahayz, Ain Sahalnoot, Al Mughsail, Al Dahariz and Jebel Samhan. Working alongside the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, the stated outputs are new areas of cooperation, exchange of expertise and joint initiatives inside ICESCO's mandate. It is worth noticing what this format is not. It is not a summit producing a communique; it is programme officers and a host ministry walking sites together and leaving with a shortlist. Cultural diplomacy done this way generates specific, fundable projects with named counterparts, which is the only version of it that survives a change of government on either side.

This is a QeRN summary by Ahmed Qerni. Read the original at Muscat Daily: https://www.muscatdaily.com/2026/08/24/icesco-delegation-to-explore-dhofar-heritage-development/.