On September 18, a meeting was held in the Tashkent City Hall (khokimiyat) with Pascal Loro, Special Representative of the French Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy in Central Asia and French Ambassador to Uzbekistan Mme Isabelle Servoz-Gallucci.

The Mayor of Tashkent, Jahongir Artikhodjaev, began the meeting with the words: “Welcome, dear ambassador, to sunny Tashkent!” Further, Mayor Artikhodjaev briefly introduced the transformations of recent years and emphasized that the agreements signed during the official visit of our President to France in October 2018 that have great importance for productive cooperation between our countries. Contracts for millions of dollars have been signed, and cooperation is taking place not only in the field of economics but also in culture, sports and in other fields. Mayor of Tashkent stated that we are particularly interested in the tourist destination and we will be glad to develop cooperation in this area, and invited French businesspersons to participate in the construction of hotels in Tashkent, taking into consideration the practice of Bukhara.

Mme. Isabelle Servoz-Gallucci thanked for the kind words and said that for a short time in her new position she was already convinced that Tashkent was a truly sunny city. She emphasized the important role of Uzbekistan in Central Asia and the fact that this role has increased due to the open policy of recent years. Moreover, she proposed to develop cooperation between our countries at the level of parliaments and mayors of capitals, because France is following with interest the success of Uzbekistan in tourism and ready to share its successful experience. For example, in 2018, more than 80 million tourists visited France.

After, the parties discussed possible cooperation in various areas of the tourism business, including the opening of a university in Tashkent that trains specialists in the field of tourism.