As a result of reforms in religious sphere, a number of mosques are being reopened and reconstructed.
One of such works has been done in Chust city of Namangan region. Prominent chef in Uzbekistan Bahriddin Chustiy notes the following:
Баҳриддин Чустий ижтимоий тармоқлардаги шахсий саҳифаси қуйидаги сўзларни ёзиб қолдирган:
“When I was young, there was the mosque on the way to my school. I used to listen to the beautiful azan (prayer for call) and elder people would bring the joy by their attendance. But, for some unknown reasons the mosques had been closed in 1998.”
Several attempts have been done to reopen this mosque for the past years, but all unsuccessful. Thanks to the initiatives of our President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, this mosque has also been permitted to reconstruct. There is hope that this mosque start functioning until the beginning of the Ramadan.
Press Service,
Muslim Board of Uzbekistan
A meeting was held yesterday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss the implementation of the decree of the Head of our state “On Measures to Further Develop Domestic and Pilgrimage Tourism in the Republic of Uzbekistan” dated February 9, 2021, and the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers “On Additional Measures to Implement the “Umrah Plus” Pilgrimage Tourism Program dated January 9, 2026, as well as to expanding tourist flows from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore to Uzbekistan, reports Dunyo IA.
According to the MFA, the meeting, organized in a hybrid format, was attended by representatives of the Tourism Committee of Uzbekistan, the Committee on Religious Affairs, the Technical Regulation Agency, the khokimiyats of Bukhara and Samarkand regions and Tashkent city, JSC Uzbekistan Airways, JSC Uzbekistan Airports, domestic airlines, the Uzbekistan–Malaysia–Indonesia Travel Association, the Association of Umrah Pilgrimage Travel Agencies, as well as nearly 40 representatives of tourism companies.
Participants discussed in detail transport and logistics, service quality, and promotional measures aimed at increasing tourist arrivals to Uzbekistan from Southeast Asian countries. In particular, they considered increasing the number of flights from Malaysia, launching direct flights from Indonesia and Singapore, intensifying promotional activities for pilgrimage tourism under the “Umrah Plus” program, aligning infrastructure for foreign pilgrims with international halal standards, and strengthening coordination with tourism companies operating in this field.
The event was held in an open dialogue format based on the “problem–proposal–solution” approach, providing participants with an opportunity to exchange constructive views on existing challenges and opportunities in the sector.