site.btaVice President Popova, Culture Minister Rasjidov Participate in 3rd World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in Azerbaijan

Vice President Popova, Culture Minister Rasjidov Participate in 3rd World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue
in Azerbaijan

Sofia, May 18 (BTA) - Vice President Popova and Culture Minister
Vezhdi Rashidov are participating in the 3rd World Forum on
Intercultural Dialogue in Baku, Azerbaijan, both institutions
said Monday.

The forum, which goes under the motto "Let's share culture for
the sake of common security", is dedicated to the theme:
"Culture and sustainable development in the post-2015
development agenda".

The forum is being held under the auspices of the Azerbaijani
president, in close collaboration with international political,
economic and cultural power centers like UNESCO, the United
Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), the United Nations
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Council of Europe, the
North-South Centre of the Council of Europe, and Islamic
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO).

On May 20 Popova will deliver a lecture before lecturers and
students at the Slavic University in Baku and will visit the
Bulgarian Language and Culture Centre there.

In 2016 Bulgaria will host Days of Azerbaijani Culture, Rashidov
and the Azerbaijani Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfaz
Garayev agreed on Monday. The Bulgarian Culture Minister also
presented a draft Cooperation Programme between the two
ministries in 2015-2018. The document is designed to be signed
at the visit Garayev is to pay to Bulgaria this year.

An invitation for Bulgarian participation in the sixth edition
of the international Music Festival "Silk Road" in the city of
Shaki, to be held from July 1 to 5 this year, has been received
at the Ministry.

Rashidov also conferred with members of the Heydar Aliyev
Foundation leadership. The foundation has abundant experience
in preserving and popularizing cultural heritage. Bulgaria's
Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Maya Hristova, also attended the
meeting.

On the sidelines of the 3rd World Forum on Intercultural
Dialogue, Rashidov and Bokova discussed concrete measures for
more active cooperation between the Ministry of Culture and
UNESCO to step up the process of entering Bulgarian sites in the
World Heritage List.

Bulgarian Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova, who is also in
Baku for the intercultural dialogue forum, met with the Minister
of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan, Abulfaz Karayev, her
Ministry said. She told her host that Bulgaria can offer
tourists from Azerbaijan balneo and spa services, Her
counterpart said that his country is interested in such
cooperation and that Bulgaria is among potential destinations
that can be included in a social programme of his government.

The two sides looked at the programme of charter flights that
the Bulgarian Transport Ministry is preparing and the hosts
showed interest in a possible charter service from Baku to any
of the resort towns on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast.