The Heart of Central Asia, Uzbekistan will resume direct flight operations from Lahore, to Tashkent from April 5, 2017 and will launch two flights a week. Flights would operate on every Wednesday and Friday with the number of flights to be increased in the future. Previously, Uzbekistan Airways suspended flight operations to Pakistan due to less load issue in 2013 but now a plan has been finalized to keep smooth operation intact in the future. Mutual visa restriction between Uzbekistan and Pakistan was also one of the reasons why Uzbekistan Airways suspended its flights.
The Uzbek Embassy in Islamabad, under the supervision of his Ambassador H.E. Furqat Sidiqov has been working tirelessly to resume fights for the last two years and resume the dream of greater connectivity via direct air links between the two countries. He termed direct air-links a must for enhancing government-to-government, business-to-business and people-to-people contacts. The ambassador believes that direct flights would widen horizon of bilateral relations and ultimately volumes of bilateral trade, tourism, investment, joint ventures, educational and cultural cooperation would also be on the rise. Resumption of direct flights will have many socio-economic multiplier effects and also reduce time span, budgetary allocations and ultimately increase connectivity.
This is indeed a giant step towards greater regional connectivity because no other Central Asian country has direct access/flight with Pakistan and passengers have to travel via UAE, Qatar or Turkey to reach these countries. Uzbekistan Airways has planned to enhance tourism activities between both countries with enhancement of tourism visa quota for tourism to increase.
It may be mentioned that Pakistan was the first South Asian country to initiate flights to Tashkent after Uzbekistan got independence from former Soviet Union in early 90s. The Pakistan government has shifted its attention to Central Asia since the government of Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif took up the reins of power, therefore both countries must come forward for further strengthening of bilateral relations by having direct air links.
Uzbekistan Airways flights will not only carry travelers to different destinations around the world from Pakistan, but will also give Pakistani businessmen opportunities to explore the market for their products in Central Asia. Uzbekistan has been a favorite destination for Pakistan tourists and it is hoped that tourism will improve between the two countries after resumption of direct flights.
The Tashkent-Lahore connection is necessary for Pakistan and Uzbekistan as resumption will open the door for them to accrue the most benefit from each other’s expertise in the economic field, as well as energy, trade, and tourism, energy, agriculture, automobile and fashion industry.
Hopefully, after new Visa policy announced by the government of Uzbekistan, there would be a drastic change in visa regime in the future, Pakistani businessmen and students were among those affected by the suspension of the air link. Pakistani businessmen exported 10 tonnes of goods every week to the Central Asian states through the Lahore-Tashkent flights which were stopped due to suspension of the air-link.
Pakistani textile and handicraft goods have a good market in Uzbekistan. The transport expenditures had doubled since the direct air link with Tashkent was suspended. Afterwards, Pakistani businessmen had to get the cargo booked through connecting flights in the Gulf for the Central Asian states. A golden opportunity was lost.
Travel agents had also suffered badly due to the suspension. They now have opportunity to do good business by giving options to passengers travelling to Europe [via] Uzbekistan Airlines due to cheap fares. Direct flights would also increase digitalization connectivity between the two countries, Pakistan has 18 per cent of internet penetration and its geographical location has a lot to offer to landlocked Central Asian states with crucial bandwidth access, which can turn Pakistan into the regional connectivity hub for the entire region. According to the Information Security Operations Centre (ISOC) at the lNet Conference this is due to the fact that all other countries are landlocked and they depend heavily on Russia for their international internet connectivity of any sort. These Central Asian countries have very low rate of international internet connectivity which means Pakistan can tap a lucrative market and help internet uptake in these landlocked markets. With its coastline and direct access to submarine cable landing points, low bandwidth cost Pakistan sits in an enviable strategic position. Pakistan has all the potentials in place to bridge the access to the international submarine cables and provide greater bandwidth to the region as a whole. Pakistan, therefore, can become a natural “Southern Route” to connect Central Asia to international networks.
The Republic of Uzbekistan is full of wonders, it is a hub of tourism filled with natural beauty and its multiculturalism is well known and has now become a favourite country for tourists. It has unique location at the crossroads of the Silk Road which always connects people, minds, and civilizations. The tourism industry of Uzbekistan is also a developed and service oriented which welcomes people and makes them feel at home.
Uzbekistan is blessed with beautiful Samarkand, the jewel of CIS and the capital of the great state of Amir Temur with a lot of attractions which are famous today around the world. It has a rich history, culture and traditions and its people are friendly who respect humanity, knowledge, wisdom and beauty. It is blessed with rich architectural features and has a famous mausoleum of Amir Temur and Bibi Khanum Mosque. The mausoleum is considered one of the finest examples of medieval architecture of the East.
Uzbekistan is also blessed with the holy city of Bukhara which is a spiritual hub and center of peace and caring to all people. Because of its many historical monuments and places of worship it is one of the hot destinations of devout tourists coming from South East Asia, Far East, CIS, MENA, and Africa. Bukhara is famous for its majestic minarets, mosques, bazaars and shopping centers, it is a city of life, joy, color and brotherhood. It is the city which connects the past with future.
Uzbekistan has introduced many innovative and modern concepts mainly ecotourism, geo-tourism, health and cultural areas as well as mountain climbing, rafting and fishing for international tourists. It categorized its tourism into regions i.e. in areas with few historic monuments it has developed ecotourism, geo-tourism, traveling off-road, etc. It has also implemented a project to restore objects of cultural heritage, construction and reconstruction of tourist facilities, the development of new routes of ancient monuments and picturesque places.
Most recently, the government of Uzbekistan relaxed its visa regime and rolled back visa requirements for citizens of 27 countries who seek to explore Uzbekistan’s rich tourism potential. Citizens from 15 countries Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom will be able to travel to Uzbekistan visa-free for up to 30 days. Moreover, a visa-free month will be available to citizens over the age of 55 from 12 other countries Belgium, China, the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, the United States, and Vietnam. A relaxed visa regime between Uzbekistan and Pakistan is the need of the hour.
The resumption of direct will further strengthen bilateral relations in terms of greater socio-economic connectivity, investments and cooperation in the diverse fields. Uzbekistan’s Ambassador H.E. Furqat SIDIQOV in Pakistan must be appreciated for his tremendous work to achieve this milestone Uzbekistan and Pakistan offer lots of potential which need to be tapped for the betterment of bilateral relations and trade also.
