Korea Herald
August 30

Uzbekistan, in the ancient cradle between the Amu-Darya and Syr-Darya rivers, is one of the most historically fascinating nations of the Central Asian republics. The republic occupies the heartland of Central Asia, sharing a border with all the other "stans," which is why the country is regarded as the crucial part of the former Soviet Central Asian republics and was the crossroads of the Great Silk Road.

The beginning of the Uzbekistan history dates back to more than 300,000 years, and 12 provinces comprise the autonomous country. Its once-prospering empires and kingdoms in the territory of ancient Turan, Transozania and Turkistan have left a bright impact on the development of world culture. And the cities of modern Uzbekistan including Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, Shakhrisabz and Tashkent live on in the imagination of Westerners as symbols of Oriental beauty and mystery.

Declaring independence in 1991, the Republic of Uzbekistan entered the age of revival of its spiritual and intellectual values, and the age of radical changes in the economic and social spheres of life. With this, a legal, democratic and secular state with an open market economy and strong social protection system was constructed. Its unique method of economic and political reformation is recognized by the world community as "the Uzbek model of development."

Uzbekistan currently retains a key position in many sectors of the world's industrial production, agriculture and science. This originates from the country's rich and exceptionally diverse natural resources including gas, coal and oil: The reserves of gas make up about two trillion cubic meters, and coal, two billion tons. Ranked fourth in the world for reserves of gold, Uzbekistan is also the major source of silver and other rare metals.

In addition, a diversified economic structure has been shaped in real terms. The non-state sector has become predominant and the majority of state enterprises have changed their ownership by being privatized or transformed into joint stock companies. The managing structure of economy has also been fundamentally altered and the market infrastructure has been constructed. A sound judicial basis as well as legal frameworks has been established to serve as a foundation for current economic reforms and to guarantee their irreversibility.

Uzbekistan is filled with a rich and unique cultural heritage created over many thousand years. Enormous efforts were put into the restoration, conservation and improvement of large historical and architectural ensembles scattered around Samarkand, Buhkhara and Khiva. President Islam Karimov was awarded with the UNESCO's Golden Medal for his contribution to reviving and preserving cultural treasures. In line with its rich cultural legacy, the country has more than 100 ethnic groups with various religions as one can see from the Islamic mosques, Christian Orthodox churches, Jewish synagogues and the buildings of different branches of the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches.

The republic has served as a venue for various international sport events. Holding the annual tennis tournament "President's Cup" in Tashkent has become a tradition, attracting the world's best tennis players. President Islam Karimov won the highest award from the International Olympic Committee and the medal of the Olympic Council of Asia for contributing to the development of sports in the country. The republic has recently become a full-fledged member of the United Nations and other reputed international organizations and is actively cooperating with European Union and OSCE. Uzbekistan has over 100 foreign diplomatic missions and representatives of various international organizations.

---