Makhachkala (Republic of Dagestan) hosted the 8th meeting of the Commission for Cooperation between the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

It was attended by a delegation led by the First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis S. Safoyev.

The parties discussed the state of inter-parliamentary relations and prospects for their development. An exchange of views took place on enhancing collaboration in various fields. In particular, the members of the Commission expressed their interest in strengthening relations in science, education, and tourism and broader use of the capabilities of the two countries in these areas.

The number of Uzbekistan students studying in higher education institutions of the Russian Federation is 46 thousand people, 14 branches of Russian universities have been opened in Uzbekistan (another 7 are planned to be opened).

At the meeting, issues of creating more favorable conditions for Uzbekistan students in Russia and increasing the number of quotas allocated from the budget in Russian universities for citizens of Uzbekistan were considered.

Members of the Commission expressed great interest in expanding tourist exchange, especially considering that there are many sights on the territory of Uzbekistan included in various UNESCO lists, and taking into account the importance of Samarkand as a cultural capital, the attractiveness of Bukhara and Khiva for Russian tourists.

Taking into account the similarity of religions and cultures, further development of pilgrimage tourism was proposed. An idea was put forward to develop the “Golden Ring” tourist route – Makhachkala – Derbent – Samarkand – Bukhara.

Moreover, the issues of increasing the number of flights between Makhachkala and Tashkent and Bukhara, which can significantly contribute to the development of business and cultural ties, and increase the flow of tourists, were discussed.

The parties discussed preparations in Uzbekistan for celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of the famous national poet of Dagestan Rasul Gamzatov this autumn.

During the talks, the issue of establishing the practice of holding the Dagestan Culture Days in Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan Culture Days in Dagestan was discussed.

Following the meeting, an agreement was reached to hold the inter-parliamentary commission’s next meeting in one of Uzbekistan’s historical cities.

Norgul Abduraimova, UzA