The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev arrived in Samarkand to participate in the opening ceremony of the “Great Silk Road” international tourism center on August 23.

There was a sincere conversation with the elderly and intellectuals of Samarkand in the yard of the “Bokiy shahar”(Eternal City) complex, located in the center. It was prayed that these structures would be blessed and that there would be many such good deeds.

After that, the grand opening ceremony of the “Great Silk Road” International Tourism Center took place.

The head of our state gave a speech and congratulated everyone on this happy event.

- This complex, built with the intelligence and selfless work of our people, was another significant and triumphant result on the way to building New Uzbekistan. Shavkat Mirziyoev said that such a modern and magnificent architectural complex, built in the heart of ancient and modern Samarkand, be blessed to all of us, to our entire nation.

Samarkand is a city that is the basis of our national statehood and played an important role in both Renaissance periods in our history. Therefore, tourists came here mainly to see ancient monuments and visit holy places. There were no modern complexes for other areas of tourism.

At the initiative of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a very ambitious project began - the construction of a huge complex on an area of 212 hectares was started on the banks of the rowing canal in Samarkand district in 2019. First of all, an international team of experienced architects and engineers was involved and a detailed project was developed. The head of our state visited this place several times and improved the construction in terms of our national architectural traditions and comfort for people. Mature experts from countries such as Turkey, Great Britain, and Italy took part in the construction work along with our qualified builders.

In this way, in a short time, despite the difficulties of the pandemic, this huge complex was completed.

This multi-disciplinary center includes 8 modern hotels, a congress hall, the “Eternal City” complex, an amphitheater and many other facilities. It can serve 2 million tourists per year.

- This huge center is worthy of the magnificent architectural monuments built by our great ancestors and continues their historical traditions. I believe that this complex will be a symbolic bridge between the Third Renaissance, the foundation of which is currently under construction in our country, and previous historical periods, - said the President.

There is a deep meaning when the center is called the "Great Silk Road". Historical scenes of that time are shown here. For example, in the decorations of the "Eternal City" complex, images of the reception ceremony of the ruler of the Sogd state preserved on the walls of the ancient Afrosiyab were used.

An ancient bazaar, 40 handicraft workshops typical of all regions of our country are established here. In it, masters show their processes of wood carving, pottery, jewelry, and carpet weaving to tourists.

This is a part of the great work on the development of the tourism industry in our country. The new tourism center will play an important role in increasing the number of foreign tourists coming to Samarkand from 1.5 million in the coming years. In general, the goal is to increase the number of tourists coming to our country from the current 2 million to 9 million in the next five years. Most importantly, the number of people working in the tourism sector exceeds 500,000.

Also, the modern hotels and the congress hall here provide conditions for holding large-scale conferences. Recently, prestigious international events such as the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the Organization of Turkic States will be held here. Next year, the annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization will be held in our ancient city.

The musical story "The Saga of the Eternal City" became a figurative expression of the new center. The show, combining the art of our people and the world, gave a special charm to the ceremony.