Uzbekistan’s cultural capital Samarkand is all set to host the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO Summit due to be held on September 15 and 16. The city has been spruced up to host 15 world leaders including PM Modi, Russian President Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Uzbekistan is hosting the SCO Summit for the fouth time, but it is being hosted in the city of Samarkand for the first time. Previously, Uzbekistan hosted the summit in 2004, 2010 and 2016.
The city has got a new airport which is been seen as a synthesis of the past and present and is shaped like an “open book” symbolizing the main work of Mirzo Ulugbek “Zizhijadidi Kuragoniy” or the “New Astronomical Table of Kuragoni”. The building is 175 metres wide and 25 metres high. Constellations are depicted on its roof.
The airport can handle 800 people per hour and upto 120 flights per week. Equipped with modern technologies, luggage check-in it firmly puts ancient city of Samarkand on the world tourist map.
Ulugbek, was the grandson of Timur and oldest son of Shah Rukh. The Timurid Sultan was well known as an astronomer and mathematician and was notable for trigonometry. His observatory in Samarkand, built in 1449, can accurately measure the Sun from the horizon, the altitude of a star and other planets with phenomenal accuracy.
To make the city more tourist friendly, Silk Road Samarkand Tourist Center has been built to welcome SCO guests as it plans to host many events during the summit. The main construction occupies 135 hectares. A Congress Hall has been created where meetings of the SCO leaders will be held and is located on the two banks of the famous Samarkand Rowing Canal. Its area is 2800 square metres, and the area of the main hall, where the meetings of the SCO leaders will be held, is 65×65 m, and its height is 14 metres.
For incoming guests, 8 international-level hotels, with a total of about 1,200 rooms have opened their doors. Two of them correspond to the 5-star category, and one of them – “Samarkand Regency Amir Temur” – is the first and so far the only hotel in Central Asia, which is included in the Leading Hotels of the World association.
Another local attraction, Samarkand Rowing Canal has been built. The canal is 2,180 metres long and over 150 metres wide. Remember Uzbekistan will host the Asian Youth Olympic Games in 2025, and the rowing tournaments will be held in Samarkand.
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