Interview of Report News Agency with the UK Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mr.James Sharp.
- Mr. Ambassador, your diplomatic activity in Azerbaijan began a couple of months ago. What are your first impressions of our country?
- My first impression was fantastically positive. I was here for the Chelsea-Arsenal Europa League Final in May. Chelsea won 4-1, so as a Chelsea supporter, it was wonderful!
And my second impression was very positive too. Baku feels like a really beautiful European city. The architecture in the town centre is amazing, and I love just walking around downtown looking at the buildings. And the Heydar Aliyev Centre is crazy – in a good way!
I’ve been made to feel extremely welcome here. The people are so nice and very welcoming. So many have studied in the UK, or speak English. And Azerbaijani people have a real sense of family, tradition, and hospitality.
In terms of the British profile here, I was lucky to arrive just before the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Contract of the Century, which made really clear the British contribution in Azerbaijan.
So I’m very happy to be here and really looking forward in the next 3 years to discover the country and the people.
-You speak Azerbaijani well enough. Where did you learn the language?
I speak just a little bit! I studied it in London and had an Azerbaijani teacher there. And I had a few weeks in Baku and Ganja.
Azerbaijani is a difficult language to learn, I'll be honest. But for us, in the Foreign Office, trying to learn languages is a mark of respect for the host country.
- What will be the priorities of your diplomatic activity in Azerbaijan?
- The main message I gave our staff is “continuity, not change.”Our cooperation is based on a really excellent relationship and the excellent work that the Embassy and the British Council have been doing.
But we also have to look ahead.
The 25th Anniversary celebration of the Contract of the Century was largely about looking back at the past 25 years, but we are also looking forward to the next 25, 30, 50 years. Because our main priority has to be to support the long-term development of this country- economically, socially, politically.
There’s a lot to do, a big agenda here, but it’s a top priority to support the development of Azerbaijan.
Additionally, I think we can do more on the foreign policy side. We’re working with Azerbaijan on foreign policy, international issues, because as a country it has developed and it is clearly taking on a greater international role.
For example, last week Baku hosted the Turkic-speaking countries summit and this week hosts the Non Aligned Movement summit.
So, as Azerbaijan becomes a more important figure on the international stage, we’re looking to strengthen our cooperation. There are regional issues where your country and your people have a good insight – for example on Iran, Russia and the Caucasus region - which we lack.
But also more broadly on global issues. The UK, for example, has a strong leadership role on climate change. We were the first big nation to commit to a net-zero carbon target by 2050. And we’re hosting the next big climate change summit in November 2020, where we anticipate a lot of countries will agree to more demanding commitments to reduce carbon emission. So we are taking a lead on that and we would like to work more with Azerbaijan in this sphere.
Azerbaijan is also becoming an international aid donor as the country develops and becomes more prosperous. So again, there is opportunity to cooperate on these issues.
- How do you assess the current level of UK-Azerbaijani cooperation?
- I think the level of our cooperation is excellent. Our cooperation has a very solid base, and, as I said, now we’re shifting the focus towards the future. We’re supporting reforms here. The President is clearly very focused on that, and I was also very impressed by the young and energetic ministers I’ve met so far, who want to make a difference here. They have a very positive outlook, a very positive agenda. So we can work together and do more in some spheres.
- A number of reforms are underway in Azerbaijan aimed at developing the non-oil sector, including agriculture, the development of the business environment, and the agro-industrial complex. How do you assess them and what contribution can the UK make in this regard?
- I met the President and we were talking about the importance of developing the non-oil sector. Clearly, there is much energy cooperation, BP and other British companies are operating in that sector. But as I said we are looking to the future, beyond hydro-carbons, oil and gas.
There’s already a large amount of British cooperation in different sectors, but in terms of developing of the non-oil sector, I think first of all the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan has an important role here in terms of providing for future generations. That is, the government isn’t spending all money now but thinking how to save money so future generations can benefit from the oil wealth.
The second strand is to diversify the economy and to develop the non-oil sector. We’re already very much involved in that. A lot of this is about providing support, consultancy and advice. For example, we hosted a visit by the Ministry of Agriculture this year. We’re looking to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ASAN and British Government Digital Service.We’re also cooperating between hospitals in the health sphere, and are hoping that there will be a big delegation from Azerbaijan to the UK in February next year. We’ve also funded – for the first time - a Chevening scholarship to study medicine in Britain.
Another sphere is Space – we’re looking to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Azercosmos and the British Space Agency, which is the leading space agency in Europe.
We also cooperate in architecture and design. The former British architect Zaha Hadid, of course, designed the Heydar Aliyev Centre.
There is a lot of cooperation in education and cultural exchange. The British Council does a huge amount of work here: English language training, promoting higher education links between universities, providing vocational training courses and supporting creative industries. And the Embassy provides scholarships – Chevening scholarships – for young Azerbaijanis to study in the UK. Each year, we send number of Azerbaijanis to continue their master’s education in the leading UK institutions in every field.
In the social sphere we cooperate in such spheres as people with disabilities, gender equality issues, and support for the media. The head of the Press Association in Britain was here recently to talk about the importance of media plurality and media freedom in helping the development of a country.
Environmental support is another key area for us, for example waste management, the use of renewable energy, reducing single-use plastics. We’ve also funded a scholarship to study transport planning in the UK, which we hope will help address pollution issues. And it’s not only the UK government. BP are also active in the renewable energy sphere.
So there’s a whole range of different issues that we’re supporting. It’s a big – and important – agenda. I know the government appreciates our support, and claims in some media that we are somehow trying to destabilize Azerbaijan are complete nonsense. We always support Azerbaijan’s independence and territorial integrity, and our key aim is to support the development of the country.
- Cooperation in the field of tourism. What do you think can attract tourists to Azerbaijan? What should we focus on?
- Tourism is a really important and growing industry worldwide. We get about 40 million visitors coming to the UK every year, and the London airport network is the busiest in the world. So tourism is very important and can add huge value to your country as well.
You have a lot of advantages. Azerbaijan is at a cultural crossroads – you are in Europe, but with a flavour of the Middle East, a flavour of Asia. So it’s very interesting for people from different parts of the world to come to Azerbaijan. And you have beautiful nature - fantastic mountains, mountainous villages. Your hospitality is very impressive.
Every country has its tourist strategy. You have a lot of tourists from the Gulf, Russia and Iran. But if your question is how Azerbaijan could attract more tourists from Britain and Western Europe, then I would answer that you are starting to do that anyway by hosting big events like the Formula-1 race. People come here, spend a few days, and get to know the country better. Some people I’ve spoken to have done that and were really impressed and really enjoyed their trip here.
Another idea might be developing ecotourism. We’ve just given another Chevening scholarship to an Azerbaijani student to go to the UK and study a Master’s degree in this area. Such specialisation in tourism can be very valuable. It would be also very helpful to have more flights to Europe so more people could come. But of course it’s for the government to decide on its tourist strategy. We’re helping here, of course, with the British Council having provided vocational training in the area of hospitality. And a big Azerbaijani delegation will participate in the World Travel Market in London in early November.
- Do not you think that the current "Brexit crisis" prevents the UK from paying due attention and therefore weakens relations with third countries, including Azerbaijan?
- I wouldn’t say this is crisis. There was a referendum 3 and a half years ago and since then the government has been negotiating a very long detailed withdrawal agreement and a future relations political declaration with the EU. Of course, for the last couple weeks it’s been very busy. But the overall process has been a long one.
Despite this, I don’t think it will cause any difference in our relationship with countries such as Azerbaijan.
I would mention 2 things. One is that our relations with Azerbaijan is not really conducted through the EU anyway. We have very strong bilateral relationship, and the European Union is a part of that, but it is not the centre of our relationship with Azerbaijan.
We have very strong bilateral relationship and that will continue.
And the second issue is that we’re the big country: members of the UN Security Council, NATO, the British Commonwealth, we’re a member of the G7 and G20. So we can cope with Brexit along with all our commitments.
In fact, we’re trying to do even more in other countries. As a part of the Brexit strategy, we’ve actually increased the number of Embassies we have worldwide, and have increased the number of Foreign Office staff, because Brexit gives us opportunities to focus more resources on other parts of the world. So I am very positive about our relationship with Azerbaijan.
So, for me, this is a really great time to be here, to be part of that future and see how we can contribute to that.