The key facts

  • Marco Rubio arrived in Samarkand on Sunday evening — his first visit to Central Asia
  • On Monday: the business council meeting, C5+1, and the first round of the Dialogue on Extended Strategic Partnership
  • Representatives of more than 200 American companies arrived with Rubio; a meeting with Shavkat Mirziyoyev is expected

Arrival in Samarkand

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Samarkand on Sunday evening with his wife. As Gazeta.uz reports, this is his first visit to Central Asia. At the airport he was greeted by the head of the Presidential Administration of Uzbekistan Saida Mirziyoyeva, Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov, US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor, US Ambassador Jonathan Henick, and the leadership of the Samarkand region. Saida Mirziyoyeva wrote on her Telegram channel that she was glad to welcome the head of American diplomacy to historic Samarkand.

Scheduled Events

On Monday in Samarkand, the second meeting of the US-Uzbekistan Business and Investment Council will take place, co-chaired by Saida Mirziyoyeva and Sergio Gor, as well as a meeting of the foreign ministers of the region's countries and the United States in the C5+1 format. In addition, Marco Rubio and Bakhtiyor Saidov will hold the first round of the Dialogue on Extended Strategic Partnership between the two countries. Bakhtiyor Saidov expressed confidence that the dialogue will become an opportunity to fill the strategic partnership with new practical initiatives and jointly determine priority areas of cooperation between Central Asia and the United States.

Business Delegation and Negotiations

Together with Marco Rubio, representatives of more than 200 major American companies are arriving in Uzbekistan. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has also arrived in Samarkand: he will take part in the meeting of the business and investment council and hold talks with Marco Rubio.