A meeting took place in Tashkent between Sukhrobjon Bobokalonov, Deputy Chairman of the Tourism Committee of Uzbekistan, and Gerard Wolf, Special Representative of the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France. The Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of France to the Republic, Walid Fouk, was also present at the negotiations.
The participants discussed opportunities to deepen bilateral cooperation in the field of tourism, as well as issues of effective use of cultural heritage sites, infrastructure development, and specialist training. The Uzbek side reported on current reforms aimed at attracting a larger number of foreign tourists and stimulating regional tourism.
Prospects for Partnership and Tourism Development
Gerard Wolf emphasized the significant opportunities for cooperation and proposed applying French expertise to improve the tourist attractiveness of historical monuments, as well as to train personnel for the hospitality sector and increase the economic contribution of tourism. Borina Andrie, CEO of Wilmotte & Associés Architectes, expressed readiness to participate in improving infrastructure and creating educational courses, noting that discussions in urban planning are already underway.
Furthermore, the parties considered the development of mountain tourism. The French company MND presented a report on the progress of work on the 'Chimgan' tourist zone project and announced plans for the joint implementation of the next stage—the 'Uzbek-Courchevel' project—with the company POMA.