PENANG, 18 May 2016 – The Minister of Tourism and Culture, Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz will officiate at the opening ceremony of the Kedah Tua International Conference 2016 (KTIC’2016) which would be held from 21 - 22 May 2016 at Park Avenue Hotel, Sg. Petani, Kedah.

“The KTIC’2016 opening ceremony will take place on this Saturday, 21 May 2016 and will feature 29 international presenters whose expertise ranges from civilisations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus, China, Greco-Roman to Mesoamerica, along with experts on civilisation from every South-East Asian nation,” said the Director of Centre for Global Archaeological Research (CGAR) Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Professor Dato’ Dr. Mohd Mokhtar Saidin.

“All of them would be discussing on the respective civilisations surrounding the time of the Sungai Batu civilisation (535 BC – 17th century AD), to have a better understanding on the uniqueness and contributions of Sungai Batu to world civilisation.

“The conference would be an event that should not to be missed by academicians, students, history buffs and everyone who shares the interest in the study on civilisation and archaeology,” added Mohd Mokhtar.

The experts and presenters will focus their discussions on 10 main topics, ranging from iron-smelting for construction purposes to practices throughout the centuries and on various beliefs.

Among the experts expected to attend include Professor Dr. Stephen Oppenheimer from the Oxford University, Professor Nasim Khan from the University of Peshawar and Dr. Zainah Ibrahim from the National Heritage Department.

The conference is organised by CGAR USM, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, National Heritage Department, Kedah State Government, Northern Corridor Malaysia, Malaysian Inland Tourism Association (MITA) and Malaysian Institute of Architects (MIA).

KTIC’2016 would be held simultaneously with the Kedah Tua Festival, held for the first time, at the Sungai Batu Archaeological Site, Kedah from 20 May until 23 May 2016.

Translation: Mazlan Hanafi Basharudin

Text: Nor Rafizah Md. Zain