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Uzbekistan’s pilgrimage tourism opportunities presented in MATTA Travel Exchange 2023 in Malaysia

19 June 2023

The Malaysian Association of Travel Companies and Tour Operators (MATTA) organized the MATTA Travel Exchange 2023 (MTEX 2023) B2B forum at the Setia City Conference Center in Selangor.

Uzbek Embassy in Malaysia held a detailed presentation on pilgrimage tourism in Uzbekistan to the participants of the event.

MATTA Travel Exchange 2023 (MTEX 2023) was attended by more than 100 Malaysian tour operators, members of MATTA, as well as representatives of the tourism industry and airlines from Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Georgia, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Iran, and India.

MATTA was established in 1975 and unites more than 3 thousand travel companies. The association has offices throughout the country and regularly hosts MATTA Fair traveling exhibitions and B2B meetings with foreign companies in all states of Malaysia.

In addition to the detailed presentation of the pilgrimage tourism opportunities in Uzbekistan, the participants of the event were also provided with detailed information about the large-scale reforms carried out in Uzbekistan in various areas during recent years. The rapid development of modern tourism infrastructure in the country and the ongoing comprehensive measures to diversify tourism services in Uzbekistan were the topics of the presentation. Tourist products of the historical and tourist centers of Uzbekistan were also presented, including Samarkand, Bukhara, Khorezm, Surkhandarya regions and the capital city of Tashkent.

As a result of the simplification of the visa procedures in Uzbekistan in recent years, it was emphasized that Uzbekistan now offers visa-free entry for citizens of more than 90 foreign countries, including Malaysia as well. Information was also provided on direct flights by Uzbekistan Airways between Tashkent and Kuala Lumpur.

As a result of negotiations with MATTA within the framework of the forum, an agreement was reached on the participation of representatives of our country at the next tourist exhibition "MATTA Fair" in Kuala Lumpur, planned to be held in September this year. In turn, representatives of the Association in the Tashkent International Tourism Fair in November this year.

As a result of negotiations with Malaysian tour operators, agreements were reached on the launch of new tour packages to Uzbekistan, such as "cultural tourism", "pilgrimage tourism", "Umrah +", "ethnotourism", "gastro tourism", "business tourism" (MICE) and others. The elaboration of the issue to promote and attract an additional 1,000 Malaysian tourists to visit Uzbekistan by the end of this year was also agreed upon as a result of negotiations during the event.

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Did you know?

Uzbekistan is one of only two countries in the world to be ‘double landlocked’ (landlocked and totally surrounded by other landlocked countries). Liechtenstein is double landlocked by 2 countries whilst Uzbekistan is surrounded by 5!

Did you know that Uzbekistan lies in the very heart of Eurasia, the coordinates for Uzbekistan are 41.0000° N, 69.0000°

Uzbekistan is home to the Muruntan gold mine, one of the largest open pit gold mines in the world! The country has 4th largest reserves of gold in the world after South Africa, USA and Russia

Uzbekistan is the world capital of melons. They have in excess of 150 different varieties, which form a staple part of the local diet, served fresh in the summer and eaten dried through the winter.

It is Uzbek tradition that the most respected guest be seated farthest from the house’s entrance.

Tashkent’s metro features chandeliers, marble pillars and ceilings, granite, and engraved metal. It has been called one of the most beautiful train stations in the world.

The Uzbek master chef is able to cook in just one caldron enough plov to serve a thousand men.

When you are a host to someone, it is your duty to fill their cups with for the whole time they are with you. What you must not do, however, is to fill their cup more than half-full. If you do that as a mistake, say it is a mistake immediately. Doing it means you want them to leave. Wow! Amazing, right?

To Uzbeks, respect means a whole lot. For this reason they love it if, even as foreigners, you endeavour to add the respectful suffix opa after a woman's name; and aka after a man's. Example: Linda-opa and David-aka. You could also use hon and jon respectively.

Having been an historic crossroads for centuries as part of various ancient empires, Uzbekistan’s food is very eclectic. It has its roots in Iranian, Arab, Indian, Russian and Chinese cuisine.

Though identified with the Persia, the Zoroastrism probably originated in Bactria or Sogdiana. Many distinguished scholars share an opinion that Zoroastrianism had originated in the ancient Khorezm. Indeed, today in the world there were found 63 Zoroastrian monuments, including those in Iran, India, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Thirty-eight of them are in Uzbekistan, whereas 17 of these monuments are located in Khorezm.

One of Islam's most sacred relics - the world's oldest Koran that was compiled in Medina by Othman, the third caliph or Muslim leader, is kept in Tashkent. It was completed in the year 651, only 19 years after Muhammad's death.

Tashkent is the only megapolis in the world where public transport is totally comprised of Mercedes buses. And due to low urban air polution it is one of the few cities where one can still see the stars in the sky.

You would be surprised to know that modern TV was born in Tashkent. No joke! The picture of moving objects was transmitted by radio first time in the world in Tashkent on 26 of July 1928 by inventors B.P. Grabovsky and I.F. Belansky.

Uzbekistan is the only country in the world all of whose neighbours have their names ending in STAN. This is also the only country in Central Asia that borders all of the countries of this region

Uzbeks are the third populous Turkik ethnicity in the world after Turks and Azeris (leaving both in Azerbaijan and Iran)

Did you know that there was silk money in Khiva? Super interesting right? Of course, but the best part of having silk money was that it could be sewn into your clothing.

Famous Islamic physician Ibn Sina (Avicenna in the Latin world) who was born near Bukhara was the one of the first people to advocate using women’s hair as suture material – about 1400 years ago.

Uzbekistan has a long and bloody history. The most notorious leader of Uzbekistan was Timur (or Tamerlane) who claimed descent from Genghis Khan. His military campaigns have been credited for wiping out some 5% of the world’s population at the time.

If you have thought that some of the Islamic architecture in Uzbekistan resembles that from Northern India, then that is because Timur’s great great great Grandson, Babur Beg, was the founder of the Moghul Empire that ruled much of India for almost four centuries! Babur’s great great Grandson was Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal.

Uzbekistan was once a rum producig country. There is still a real arboretum in Denau (city near Termez on the border with Afghanistan), grown from a selection station that studied the prospects of plant growing in the unusual for the Soviet Union subtropical climate of Surkhandarya region: only here in the whole of the USSR sugar cane was grown and even rum was produced!

Uzbekistan has been ranked one of the safest countries in the world, according to a new global poll. The annual Gallup Global Law and Order asked if people felt safe walking at night and whether they had been victims of crime. The survey placed Uzbekistan 5th out of 135 countries, while the UK was 21st and the US 35th. Top five safest countries:

Singapore
Norway
Iceland
Finland
Uzbekistan

Exchange rates

100 RUR

13922.77 UZS

100 USD

1272947.51 UZS

100 EUR

1413240.27 UZS

100 GBP

1680290.09 UZS

Weather in cities

Tashkent

Samarkand