Macao is expecting a rosy ending of its world heritage lobby, Ho Lai Chun, president of the Cultural Institute, has told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

"However, whether (we will) win this time or not, Macao has achieved its goal of boosting the protection of the cultural heritage," Ho said Thursday prior to her departure for the 29th session of the World Heritage Committee in Durban, South Africa.

July 15 will be the earliest possible date for the committee to announce the new-comers of the World Heritage List, predicted the cultural official, who is among Macao's lobby team.

A total of 42 new sites will be proposed for the inscription on the World Heritage List during the week-long session, which kicked off Sunday.

Macao's bid boasts "a living representation of the city's historic settlement, encompassing architectural legacies interwoven in the midst of the original urban fabric that includes streetscapes and urban squares."

The bid comprises around two dozen monuments, including the Buddhist Ma Kok Temple, the Catholic Holy House of Mercy, the Old City Walls, the Fortress Hill and a number of churches.

Macao's proposed world heritage sites and monuments "are the products of over 400 years of cultural exchange between the western world and Chinese civilization," Ho said.

She also described Macao as "the single most consistent example of the cultural exchange between Europe and Asia."

Macao's government and people have been in a hard bid for the entry of the World Heritage List, said the official.

The region has spent 150 million patacas (US$18.8 million) on some 100 programs for the protection and maintenance of the heritage sites since 1999, when the former Portuguese colony returned to the Chinese reign.

The government formerly launched the heritage bid in 2002 and many cultural forums, functions and conferences have since been hosted here, Ho recalled.

She added that Macao's representatives have never skipped off the annual sessions of the World Heritage Committee since 2002.

Macao's concerned officials have either saved no opportunity to participate in international forums on the heritage protection, said the official.

"Getting into the List is not our final destination. To win or to lose, we will proceed the heritage-protection campaign," said Ho.

(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2005)