The Omani Centre for Traditional Music has won an international award from Unesco's International Music Council in recognition of the key role the centre plays in the preservation of Oman's musical heritage.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Shuwain Al Hosni, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Information, received the Unesco award on behalf of the centre at a function in Aachen, Germany.

Sheikh Al Hosni conveyed the greetings of Hamad bin Mohammed Al Rashdi, Minister of Information, and expressed the Omani government's gratitude and appreciation for Unesco and the International Music Council.

He also praised the cooperation and continuous interaction bet-ween the Sultanate and Unesco.

The Omani Centre for Traditional Music is part of the Information Ministry.

His Majesty the Sultan's Prize for the Environment, which is awarded biannually through Unesco to distinguished scholars, serves as good evidence of His Majesty's appreciation and respect for Unesco and its noble objectives, he added.

He also gave an account of the centre's efforts to collect, document and preserve Oman's musical traditions through the use of photographs, audio-visual media and sound recordings and compile a digitised database of these documentation materials.

He expressed satisfaction that the centre had made a number of publications including a dictionary of Omani traditional music besides organising international forums on Omani traditional music and the role of Omani women in this type of music.

Sheikh Al Hosni said the awarding of the Unesco international prize to the Omani Centre for Traditional Music was clear evidence of international respect for the Sultanate and its policies under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

The function was attended by the Mayor of Aachen, the representative of Unesco's Director-General, the Head of the International Music Council, Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Hinai, the Sultanate's Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, Dr Moosa bin Ga'afar bin Hassan, Oman's Representative to Unesco, and others .

The Information Undersecretary was accompanied by Khalfan bin Ahmed Al Barwani, the Centre Director.