Shafaq News/ Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani on Friday expressed Iraq's willingness to cooperate with UNESCO to prop up small and medium-sized businesses in Iraq.

Prime Minister al-Sudani's remarks came during a meeting with the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Audrey Azoulay, in his residence in Paris this morning.

The meeting, according to a readout issued by al-Sudani's bureau, was also attended by Iraq's minister of education and culture, and the Iraqi ambassador in France.

The meeting touched upon prospects of cooperation and future partnerships between Iraq and UNESCO in education, science, and culture.

The prime minister praised UNESCO's efforts to reconstruct the Nouri Mosque in Mosul, hoping that the cooperation between the Iraqi government and the UN organization manages to inscribe other Iraqi sites to the World Heritage List and contributes to training workers in the education and culture sectors.

Al-Sudani expressed his cabinet's willingness to cooperate with UNESCO in organizing workshops to help launch and develop small and medium-sized businesses in a bid to provide job opportunities for unemployed youth and push for achieving sustainable development goals in Iraq.

UNESCO chief laid emphasis on Iraq's historical value, saying that the Mosul reconstruction is the organization's largest project in the world in terms of size and importance.

Azoulay affirmed the organization's willingness to proceed with projects to train Iraqi personnel, and welcomed Iraq's nomination for the membership of UNESCO's executive council.