October 24, 2008
Economics:
Conference considers development of cultural tourism
Uzbekistan Havo Yollari to start winter navigation on 26 October
Kungrad soda plant starts exporting products
Bukhara region to conclude deals for 4bn soums
Jarkurganneft launches production of emulsified bitumen
Society:
Ferghana Hosts Seminar on Human Rights, Report Says
Intl conference considers formation of civil society in Uzbekistan
UNESCO forum on global digital technologies alliance opens
Exhibitions held within TashkentALE 2008
ECONOMY
CONFERENCE CONSIDERS DEVELOPMENT OF CULTURAL TOURISM
International conference on development and promotion of cultural tourism in the countries of the Silk Road opened in Tashkent on October 23. The forum, organized on the initiative of the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Uzbekistan to UNESCO Lola Karimova, gathered representatives of 50 countries and several international organizations.
The conference participants pointed out that wide-scale reforms in Uzbekistan’s tourism sector have notably changed the tourist infrastructure. New tourist destinations have been opened, new hotels built, ancient historical sites and sacred places of worship renewed and new roads built.
Uzbekistan is working closely with UNESCO in the issues of development of culture, including tourism. This international organization is actively involved in the promotion of national folklore and crafts – manufacture of carpets, satin and adras, pottery, etc. Jubilee celebrations of ancient cities were held with the participation of UNESCO. Cities of Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva and Shahrizabs were added to the list of world heritage by UNESCO.
Speaking at the forum, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Uzbekistan to UNESCO Lola Karimova noted that the Great Silk Road was not only a trade route, but also a means of cultural and educational cooperation. The participation of Uzbekistan in its revival is particularly important.
Uzbekistan is known around the world with its historical monuments, places of pilgrimage and leisure. The country has the opportunity to accept some 1 million tourists per year. From this perspective, this conference is a good opportunity to exchange views on the full realization of the tourism capacity of Uzbekistan, and countries of the Great Silk Road.
President of the National Company Uzbektourism Z. Khakimov focused on the present state and prospects of tourism in Uzbekistan. The convenient geographical location of Uzbekistan, modern transport and communications infrastructure contributes to the development of the tourism industry. Currently there are over 4,000 historical monuments and places of recreation, and more than 500 enterprises manufacturing souvenirs in the country. In 1993, Uzbekistan had only 20 hotels, and today their number exceeds 300.
Deputy Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization T. Rifai said that the scale of world tourism today was larger than ever before. Tourism has become one of the areas of culture, developing the economy. Strengthening international cooperation in the field of cultural tourism enhances the opportunities for enrichment of cultures and understanding.
According to the head of the UNESCO office in Uzbekistan A. Paolini, along with promotion of historical monuments, the number of tourists visiting them is also growing. In such circumstances, there is a need to intensify international cooperation and exchange experience in order to improve the protection of historical monuments. In this respect, Uzbekistan’s activities in this direction deserve attention.
The representatives of Japan, Russia, China, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Iraq and other countries talked about the prospects of cultural tourism, and the role of the Great Silk Road in the development of cultural relations between the peoples. The conference participants discussed the issues of stable development of cultural tourism, cooperation and exchange of experience, improvement of tourism infrastructure, raising awareness about cultural tourism, supporting programs to study the Great Silk Road, assisting joint development of tourist routes on the Great Silk Road and other issues.
The forum adopted a resolution to support the development of cultural tourism in the countries of the Great Silk Road.
The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan, chairman of the National Commission of the Republic of Uzbekistan for UNESCO R. Kasymov made a speech at the conference.
UZBEKISTAN HAVO YOLLARI TO START WINTER NAVIGATION
Uzbekistan Havo Yollari (Uzbekistan Airways) said it will shift to winter navigation on October 26.
The company said in line with the winter navigation, it will open route Tashkent-Milan-Geneva-Tashkent and Tashkent-Geneva-Milan-Tashkent on 31 October 2008. The flights will be carried out on Fridays.
Uzbekistan Havo Yollari said new routes from Ferghana and Urgench to Petersburg will be also launches. The company will fly on route Tashkent-Kaliningrad-Tashkent from 1 February 2009.
The company plans to increase number of flights to Istanbul and Kiev. The aircrafts of Uzbekistan Havo Yollari will fly on Tashkent-Istanbul-Tashkent route five times a week and Tashkent-Kiev-Tashkent route twice a week.
It added that shift flights Tashkent-London-Tashkent from Saturday to Friday and Tashkent-Athens-Tashkent from Tuesday to Thursday.
KUNGRAD SODA PLANT STARTS EXPORTING PRODUCTS
Starting from the second half of this year, products manufactured at Kungrad soda plant in Karakalpakstan are sent for export.
Apart from large domestic enterprises of machine building and chemical industry, the plant also received orders from companies in Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan.
The Bryansk Chemical Company (Russia) received 9,000 tons of soda ash and Maylisuu electric lamp plant in Kyrgyzstan 1,000 tons. Among the buyers of the produce are also Power Global Engineering in Kazakhstan and Letreh-invest in Turkmenistan.
“Every day, we produce 240-250 tons of high-quality product,” said the head of the company Obod Rambergenov. “This year the company is planning to produce 85,000 tons of soda ash.”
BUKHARA REGION TO CONCLUDE DEALS FOR 4BN SOUMS
The National Industrial Fair and Cooperation Exchange will be held at UzExpoCenter, exhibition hall, from 27 October to 1 November.
Leading sectors of economy and small businesses will present their products, which they are producing now or planning to launch in 2009.
It is expected that local firms will present their production and scientific-technical potentials within the event.
The participants will have an opportunity to sign agreements for supply of good in 2009 with producers and suppliers.
Among the participants will be enterprises of Bukhara regions, which are successfully producing import-replacing products.
UzA reported that according to preliminary estimates, Bukhara region's enterprises can ink agreements to purchase or sale products for over 4 billion soums at the fair.
JARKURGANNEFT LAUNCHES PRODUCTION OF EMULSIFIED BITUMEN
Uzbek-Russian joint venture Jarkurganneft started production of emulsified bitumen, UzA reported on October 23.
The report said the new capacities of the enterprise, located Surkhandarya region, are over 30,000 tonnes of products a year.
The emulsified bitumen, used for road construction, is delivered to customers in Tashkent city, Surkhandarya and Ferghana region.
The company plans to increase production capacities and supply emulsified bitumen to other regions of Uzbekistan.
SOCIETY
FERGHANA HOSTS SEMINAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS, REPORT SAYS
In line with Decree of President of Uzbekistan “On the Action Program dedicated to the 60th Anniversary of Adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights” of May 1, 2008, the roundtables, meetings, scientific and practical conferences with participation of specialists are taking place at the local levels, according to the Uzbekistan National News Agency.
The participants of the seminar which was held in the city of Ferghana discussed propaganda of essence and significance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The representatives of ministries and agencies, public organizations, political parties and law-enforcement bodies are reported to have taken part at the event.
Since the early years of independence Uzbekistan has been accomplishing an enormous work in building free civil society. The work related to ensuring rights and freedoms of people plays a particular role in such complex undertaking.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is the first international document that Uzbekistan joined after independence. The provisions of the Declaration were reflected in the Constitution of Uzbekistan and national laws.
INTL CONFERENCE CONSIDERS FORMATION OF CIVIL SOCIETY IN UZBEKISTAN
An international conference titled "Formation of civil society in Uzbekistan: current state, achievements and perspectives" was held in Bukhara city on 21-22 October, UzA reported.
Institute on Studying Civil Society, National Democratic Institute (USA) office in Uzbekistan, Friedrich Ebert Foundation (Germany) and University of Tsukuba (Japan) organized the event.
Representatives of the UK, Germany, India, China, Russia, the USA, Turkey and Japan, as well as Uzbekistan participated at the seminar. The participants exchanged opinion on democratic reforms in Uzbekistan, development of civil society institutions and their role in ensuring human rights and freedoms.
The participants paid attention to formation of fair and strong civil society in Uzbekistan, improvement role of the political parties, NGOs and mass media in democratic reforms in the country.
UNESCO FORUM ON GLOBAL DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES ALLIANCE OPENS
The UNESCO forum titled “Global alliance in the field of digital technologies” opened in the capital of Uzbekistan on October 23.
The event has been organized by the Uzbek Agency of Communication and Information in cooperation with the National Committee of Uzbekistan on the program “Information for all” and the National Commission of Uzbekistan for UNESCO.
Deputy Director General of the Uzbek Agency of Communication and Information Asadjon Khodjayev said the government was paying a special attention to the development of information and communication technologies, namely, introduction of modern information technologies in all spheres of economic and social life.
The country’s specialists are implementing effective measures to create modern and reliable national information sources, develop information services and resources market, and consistently introduce electronic forms of information exchange.
During the two-day forum, its participants will discuss issues related to communication and information, in particular, widespread introduction of modern digital technologies and complex information systems, development and implementation of joint projects to build high-tech products and provide skill training, and other issues.
EXHIBITIONS HELD WITHIN TASHKENTALE 2008
Tashkent international photo biennale TashkentALE 2008 is continuing. It has been organized by the Fund “Forum of Culture and Art of Uzbekistan”, Arts Academy and the Tashkent Photography House and is devoted to the 2,200th anniversary of Tashkent.
The exhibition titled “With reverence to nature” opened in the Gallery of Fine Arts in the framework of the TashkentALE. Photographers from various countries tried to reflect such ideas as environmental protection and rational use of the gifts of nature.
Tursun Ali presented a series of works “East and West”, Vitautas Pletkus (Lithuania) – “Regions”, Emil Agayev (Azerbaijan) – “The miracle of nature”, Stephen Vaterfalle (Canada) – “Garden”, and Zhen Shou Liu (China) – “Houses on the shore”.
Another exhibition, which opened in the framework of TashkentALE 2008 in the Exhibition Hall of Culture and Art of Uzbekistan, is called “Our cherished values”. It features photographs on child upbringing and spirituality. Among the works are “View” by Sin Ma of China, “Walking around the city” by Nguyen Dan of Vietnam, “Amazement” by Vika Ramazanova from Uzbekistan and “Amateur photographer” by Alexander Harvat from Ukraine.