OREANDA-NEWS. September 03, 2013. Ukraine has supported candidature of Taleb Rifai during the election of the Secretary General of the World Tourist Organization (UNTWO). 12 Session of the General Assembly of the UNWTO started in Livingstone (Zambia) and in Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe Republic). During the meeting of the General Assembly, was elected the UNWTO Secretary General for 2014-2017, the current Secretary General of the Organization Taleb Rifai won.

"We are confident that Taleb Rifai will stimulate the further development of tourism in Ukraine and in the world on the position of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary General," said vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Olexandr Vilkul.

Chairman of the State Agency of Ukraine for Tourism and Resorts Olena Shapovalova during his massage at the meeting of the General Assembly of the UNWTO said that thanks to the support of Taleb Rifai the Committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) included two Ukrainian cultural objects - ancient city of Chersonesos Taurian and wooden churches in the Carpathian region of Ukraine and Poland to the UNESCO World heritage Site. At the end of the year UNESCO will examine the status of world intangible heritage of Ukrainian decorative and ornamental folk art - Petrykivka Painting.

"During his mandate, Mr. Rifai strongly contributes to the strengthening of cooperation between Ukraine and the UNWTO and the further integration of Ukraine into the global tourism market," Olena Shapovalova stressed.

During the report Olena Shapovalova reminded of the participants of the General Assembly of the UNWTO that the second International Tourism Forum will be held on October 10, 2013 in Kyiv Ukraine, which will be opened by vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Vilkul and the UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai. As part of the Forum, a meeting of tourism ministers of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).