H.E. Mr. Dilyor Khakimov, Ambassador of Uzbekistan.
By Michael Bonté.
As Uzbekistan further opens its doors to tourists from all over the world, the Uzbek Embassy in Brussels organized a tourism presentation and a walking dinner in The Hague. The event “Welcome in Uzbekistan,” organized in collaboration with Diplomat Magazine and Diplomatic Card, took place in the Crowne Plaza Hotel of The Hague, where the guests enjoyed presentations about Uzbekistan and the country’s hospitality.
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H.E. Mr. Dilyor Khakimov opened the proceedings by welcoming all the guests. Although there is no Uzbek Embassy in The Hague, the Ambassador noted, Uzbekistan holds a special interest for the Netherlands, and it would like to strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries. In particular, he added, in this moment “Uzbekistan has entered a new stage of development not only in the political, socio-economic, cultural spheres, but also in the field of tourism,” thus providing one more relevant field for expanding cooperation.
Tourists can find a wide array of reasons to visit Uzbekistan, including natural, cultural, and historical motives. The country was at the center of old civilizations and empires, such as that of Alexander the Great, and it was also part of the Great Silk Road.
As such, Uzbekistan has a rich historical and cultural heritage, centuries-old traditions, and unique architectural monuments of ancient cities of the Great Silk Road.
For example, cities such as Bukhara, Khiva, and Samarkand, in the past capitals of powerful kingdoms for many centuries, are located in Uzbek territory, and they attract a significant amount of tourists from abroad.
In order to attract an increasing number of tourists, several projects have been set in motion recently. Among them, the “Three Cities” scheme in the capital Tashkent. This project is aimed at attracting both foreign and domestic visitors in the Uzbek capital, and it revolves around three themed areas.
- The first is the People’s Diplomatic City, which is set to host centers for exhibitions, meetings and conferences, as well as offices for national cultural centers. This project will also include a 5000 seats concert hall with cinemas, restaurants and a shopping mall. Moreover, there will be space for a Great Silk Road fragment, and streets for holding festivals, carnivals and other crowded events.
- The second theme will be represented by the Ethnic City. This City will feature replicas of historical streets (with artisan areas where craftsmen display their work), museums of costumes, traditional restaurants and cafes, and up to eight ethnically-themed hotels.
- Finally, the Cinema City will present production stages, office space, the Tashkent Film Academy, shopping areas, food and beverage outlets, hotels, and a cosmetologist treatment center. Tax breaks and other incentives will be also given to film production companies to exploit the potentialities arising from Cinema City.
The Uzbek authorities expect that up to one million people will visit the “Three Cities” park in the first three years after its inauguration, with projected revenues of up to USD 1 billion. While at the moment Uzbekistan attracts a little less than 3 million visitors, the country’s new focus on tourism is expected to boost such figures to almost the double.
In order to do so, Uzbekistan is also set to loosen its visa requirements. This is happening both via bilateral visa-free regime accords (e.g. with Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, among the others) and via a simplified E-Visa system implemented from July 2018 (e.g. with most Western and Eastern European countries).
During the “Welcome in Uzbekistan” event, explanations of Uzbekistan’s richness were also accompanied by several video clips of the cities of Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, and Termez, which sparked great curiosity in the guests.
The participant were many, and of a high profile.
Among the many attending the event, there were Russian Ambassador H.E. Mr. Alexander Shulgin, H.E. Mr. Abdel Sattar Issa, Ambassador of Lebanon, H.E. Fernando Bucheli, Ambassador of Ecuador, H.E. Mr. Yun Young Lee, Ambassador of Korea, H.E. Maria Teresa Infante, Ambassador of Chile, H.E. Soraya Alvarez, Ambassador of Cuba, H.E. Jose Bucarelo, Venezuela Alternate Ambassador to the OPCW, H.E. Philippe Couvreur, Registrar of the International Court of Justice, Mr Amokrane Mourad, Chargé d’affaires of Algeria, Argentina’s Chargé d’affaires, Mr. Pablo Pineiro Aramburu, as well as many other guests from the Dutch tourism and business sectors.
The guests were also able to enjoy the hospitality of the Uzbek people and their culinary delights. Among the many dishes served in the Crowne Plaza’s meeting room, there were samsa, the baked meat buns; lagman, a soup with Uzbek noodles, vegetables, and lamb; and the plov, arguably the most famous Uzbek dish.
In particular, the Samarkand version of plov was served, with the dish cooked in layers so that the meat juices are soaked up by the rice. The dish also includes other ingredients, such as carrots and sour red raisins.
With the food and drinks served, the conversation flowed and the room transformed in an international/Uzbek community sharing warmth and conviviality.
The presentation and the display of hospitality would certainly encourage people to make up some time for a visit to Uzbekistan: mission accomplished!
Further information on touristic visas to Uzbekistan:
https://uzbekmissiontoeu.blogactiv.eu/2018/07/06/uzbekistan-launching-e-visa-system-5-day-visa-free/
