long-standing and diverse: as President of the APSARA National Authority, the governmental body that manages the 40,000 hectares of the Park of Angkor inscribed on the World Heritage List, he ensured the values that justified its inscription, and preserved a balance between the needs of conservation and the necessities of development. From the mid-1990s to the year of An's death, with the help of and in coordination with the ICC-Angkor, the APSARA National Authority received more than US$500 million in grants for the funding of some 70 projects from various countries and international communities. As head of the Delegation of Cambodia, during the 31st regular session of the World Heritage Committee in Christchurch in 2007, An acquired considerable experience in both technical and personal terms through his active participation in the work of the Committee and through his relationships with his fellow Committee members. During the 31st regular session of the World Heritage Committee in Christchurch, in response to the presentation of the portfolio by the Cambodian delegation team led by An, the Committee recognized “that the Sacred Site of the Temple of Prasat Preah Vihear is of great international significance and has Outstanding Universal Value and agreed in principle that it should be inscribed on the World Heritage List” which led to its formal inscription by the Committee at its 32nd session in Canada in 2008. Death Sok An died at a medical center in Beijing on 15 March 2017 from an undisclosed illness, aged 66. He took a short leave of office in December 2016 while seeking medical treatment in Beijing. An suffered from diabetes and other ailments at the time of his death. Political career In 1991, An served as the Director of Cabinet of the Central Committee of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) before being appointed as a member of the CPP’s central committee in July 1992, and then being appointed as a standing committee member of the Cambodian People’s Party in January 1996. In July 2010, he was elected as Standing Committee member of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) Standing Committee at the 13th ICAPP Standing Committee meeting in Kunming, Yunnan province, China. In September 2014 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, he was unanimously elected to the new position of Vice-President of the Standing Committee and then later in 2015, in Vladivostok, he was elected as the Chairman of the ICAPP Cultural Council.