A medical examination of pupils in the Region showed that 32 per cent of them suffer from a disease. The major reasons for that are as follows: 217 out of 800 schools in the Region have no gas and no drinking water. They are short of classrooms, desks and even teachers.

These and similar problems were openly expressed at the meeting, which also determined clear ways of considering the current situation in the Region. Heads of District and town administrations will be in charge of a Regional commission for working with minors.

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he notes of reedy music rise hauntingly over the domes and blue-tiled minarets of the ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand.

The beauty and fame of Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, on the ancient trade route linking China with Europe, should already have made Uzbekistan a byword for tourists seeking an offbeat holiday. And the courtyards of Registan and Shahi Zindah, stunning blue, white and gold complexes of 15th century medressehs, mosques and tombs, the town's winding alleys and its chaikhanas -- teahouses -- should be swarming with tourists. But there are just a few groups of foreigners armed with guidebooks and cameras, gaping at the marvels and looking over stalls offering Bukhara rugs, wall hangings and pottery.

"Uzbekistan has yet to fully exploit its potential as a tourist destination," admits Bakhtiyor Khusanbayev, the head of state-owned Uzbektourism, successor to Soviet-era Intourist.

"But interest in recent years has been growing and we are working with foreign media and travel agencies to put Uzbekistan on the world tourism map," he told Reuters.

GOVERNMENT POLICIES RESPONSIBLE

Many say Khusanbayev's company and the Uzbek government themselves are responsible for the slow growth. One Western diplomat in the capital Tashkent says tourists come to this Central Asian state despite, not because of, their efforts.

"It would be more accurate to call it the agency for the prevention of tourism," the diplomat said.

In a country where statistics are considered a state secret, it is unclear exactly how many foreign tourists visit Uzbekistan each year and what revenues they bring in. Khusanbayev puts the figure at roughly 300,000 and says this will rise to one million by 2005, thanks to a new government programme to boost tourist arrivals.

"There are already 200 private tour operators and by 2005 there will be many more," he said. "We are encouraging airlines to start flights to Uzbekistan, build better hotels, widen tourist activities to include rafting, camel safaris and so on."

"By 2005, I can guarantee that tourism will provide Uzbekistan with more revenues than cotton," he added.

Experts say these plans are unlikely to work without a few very basic measures to ease the path to a country which after 70 years of Soviet rule is relatively obscure. Its mistakes are the same that other former Soviet states are making. Tashkent airport is dingy, with most signs in Russian or Uzbek, transport is poor and the service industry in Silk Road towns woefully inadequate. A dual pricing system persists for foreigners, who must pay in dollars for travel and hotels.

For solo visitors, buying train or air tickets can be virtually impossible without offering an inducement to the booking clerk. And problems for visitors can start even before they arrive. Receiving an Uzbek visa can be a major hassle.

The procedure is usually lengthy, lasting from a week to 15 days. And to get the visa the traveller must either buy a pricey package tour -- usually sold by Uzbektourism -- or get an invitation from an Uzbek citizen or travel agency. But Khusanbayev waves away the issue.

"I have never heard of anyone who had a problem getting a visa for our country," he said.

POOR FACILITIES

And in the towns themselves, much needs to be done, says Ghani Sher, a tour guide. There are few public toilets and no decent restaurants while the chaikhanas, which serve exotic and often tasty food, are often high on grease and low on hygiene.

"I dreamed all my life of visiting Samarkand and Bukhara and finally made it," said one elderly tourist from the United Arab Emirates. "But never have I had such bad experiences -- the hotels had no room service, all restaurant menus were in Russian and the guide the hotel provided kept hassling me for dollars."

Sher says his plans to start his own travel agency fell through when he was asked for $2000 for a licence, an astronomical sum in a country where monthly wages are just $10. But tourism is already boosting living standards. Sher, a doctoral student, guides tourists during the season to finance his studies for the year. Bed and breakfast establishments have mushroomed in most Silk Road cities.

Purveyors of handicrafts such as the legendary Bukhara carpets, the trademark blue and white pottery and colourful suzanney tapestries are also hoping for a tourist boom.

"From March to November, my B&B is always full," says Fatima-apa, a former engineer, who says her new trade makes her far more money. "In winter, most women weave carpets or embroider suzanneys to sell during the tourist season."

WORTH IT DESPITE HASSLES

Despite the hassles, a trip is rarely disappointing. Much history is centred in Samarkand and Bukhara, which were already flourishing trade towns when Alexander the Great invaded. His wife Roxana was a native of Samarkand.

Most of what has survived was built by the mediaeval ruler Tamerlane who spent most of the booty looted from India, Iran and other neighbours to beautify his hometown. The Uzbek government has undoubtedly done much in the past decade. The ancient buildings have been renovated at enormous expense in accordance with guidelines laid down by UNESCO, and scaffolding still covers many monuments.

Tashkent too now has several classy hotels, while foreign groups have built hotels in Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva.

"The government's encouragement of private tour operators has boosted competition and the quality of services," said one tour operator who runs a hotel and travel agency in Tashkent.

Uzbektourism has also put up for sale old hotels, given licences to bed-and-breakfast establishments and slashed tax rates for their owners. Tour operators are waiting now for the sum currency to become convertible.

"Visiting Uzbekistan means carrying lots of cash or a trip to the bank to withdraw hard currency," the agent said. "I cannot accept credit cards because clearing takes a long time...the non-convertibility of the sum is putting a brake on the business."

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The Meeting noted the significance of the government's resolution to help those performing the hajj. The resolution envisages the privileged commission-free purchase of 1,500 dollars for Muslims leaving on the pilgrimage, the report says.

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he Jazz Age festival of American music has opened in Tashkent to mark 100-th anniversary of Louis Armstrong, a brilliant performer of jazz music.

The festival has been organized by the Council of Societies for Friendship and cultural and educational relations between Uzbekistan and foreign countries, State Concert Association "Uzbeknavo" and interclub "Festival". It is supported by the USA Embassy in Tashkent, Soros Foundation, general sponsor JV COSCOM and a number of other sponsors.

The two weeks of the festival will see performances of pop groups and solo artists, of students of the Republican musical boarding school, the circus college and Tashkent conservatoire, of the State choir cappella and the Big Band named after B. Zakirov.

The programme of the grand musical event includes demonstration of American videomusicles, presentation to the audience of different varieties of jazz, and jazz works by children, and exhibiton of "History of jazz in photographs".

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arubeni Corp has won an 8.8 bln yen contract to provide spinning machinery to a spinning factory in Uzbekistan, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.

The order is part of a 12 bln yen project planned by a joint venture between an Uzbek national spinning company and a South Korean firm to upgrade older facilities, it said.

Marubeni will complete the delivery by fall 2002, it said.

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