By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijani Culture Minister Anar Karimov has received outgoing British Ambassador to Azerbaijan James Sharp, Azernews reports, citing the Culture Ministry.

British Council Country Director for Azerbaijan Nargiz Hajiyeva and arts manager Dilara Ibrahimova also took part in the meeting.

Anar Karimov expressed his gratitude to the ambassador for his invaluable service in strengthening friendly ties between the UK and Azerbaijan during his tenure.

British Ambassador James Sharp also emphasized that he highly values Azerbaijani-UK relations based on close cooperation and sincere friendship.

The culture minister highly evaluated the memorandum of understanding signed between the British Council and the Azerbaijan Federation of Creative Industries as an important step on the way to productive cooperation in this field.

Anar Karimov stressed the benefits of the Creative Spark program covering the years 2018-2023.

The Creative Spark Higher Education Enterprise Programme aims to drive the enterprise skills of young entrepreneurs in targeted countries to help them create their own career paths or start their own businesses.

Anar Karimov wished James Sharp success in his future activities.

The meeting continued with the discussion of a number of issues of interest to the parties.

After the meeting, British Ambassador to Azerbaijan James Sharp shared a tweet about the meeting.

"Today we had a very productive meeting with Azerbaijani Culture Minister Anar Karimov and the new director of the British Council Nargiz Hajiyeva, discussing the opportunities for cooperation. The UK will continue to provide great support to the development of the cultural sector in Azerbaijan," the ambassador tweeted.