SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan \u2013 Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited historic and religious landmarks in Samarkand and met the governor of the region during a two-day visit to the ancient Silk Road city.<\/p>\n
Lee arrived in Samarkand from the Uzbek capital Tashkent by train on Aug 29 and was received by Samarkand Region Governor Adiz Boboev and Deputy Governor Rustam Kobilov.<\/p>\n
Samarkand is one of Central Asia\u2019s oldest cities and was for centuries a key stop on the Silk Road, where traders, travellers and scholars from across Asia and beyond met.<\/p>\n
During a meeting, Boboev updated Lee on development plans for Samarkand and highlighted areas where Singapore businesses could participate and work with Uzbek partners.<\/p>\n
In a Facebook post on Aug 30, Lee said he and Boboev had discussed the economic and investment potential of their regions.<\/p>\n SM Lee Hsien Loong met the Governor of the Samarkand Region, Adiz Muzafarovich Boboev.<\/p>\n PHOTO: MDDI<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n He noted that Samarkand was an ancient city with rich cultural, religious and historical roots, and said it had great potential to grow its tourism industry.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is much our cities can learn from each other. We hope to explore new markets, expand business opportunities and strengthen people-to-people ties,\u201d Lee said.<\/p>\n Lee also visited the Imam Al-Bukhari Memorial Complex on Aug 29, an important religious and pilgrimage site built around the burial place of the renowned ninth-century Islamic scholar.<\/p>\n Imam Al-Bukhari is best known for compiling Sahih al-Bukhari, regarded as one of the most authoritative collections of hadith, or records of the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad.<\/p>\n During the visit, Lee was briefed on the scholar\u2019s life and the history of the complex. He also joined a prayer led by local religious officials at Imam Al-Bukhari\u2019s tomb.<\/p>\n Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong toured the Imam Bukhari Memorial Complex in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on Aug 29.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Later that evening, Lee watched a light show at Registan Square, one of the city\u2019s most recognisable landmarks.<\/p>\n The square is at the heart of ancient Samarkand and served as a centre of commerce, learning and public life from the 14th century.<\/p>\n The next day, Lee returned to the square for a tour of the historic site, where he also stopped to take photographs.<\/p>\n He also visited Siyob Bazaar, one of Samarkand\u2019s best-known markets, where he interacted with stallholders and visitors and took photographs with them.<\/p>\n SM Lee Hsien Loong took photos with stallholders at Siyob Bazaar on Aug 29.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: GAVIN FOO<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Lee also visited the Gur-e-Amir Mausoleum, the resting place of the 14th-century conqueror Amir Timur, also known as Tamerlane, who made Samarkand the capital of his empire.<\/p>\n Located in the Zerafshan River valley in present-day Uzbekistan, Samarkand was for centuries an important stop on the Silk Road, the network of trade routes linking China and Central Asia with Persia and the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n Its position made the city not only a trading hub, but also a meeting point for different cultures, religions and ideas.<\/p>\n Lee returned to Tashkent by train on Aug 30, as he continued his official visit to Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n Earlier in the visit, Singapore and Uzbekistan took the first formal step towards negotiating a free trade agreement, and signed three agreements aimed at deepening economic cooperation.<\/p>\n Lee began his visit to Uzbekistan on Aug 27, after spending three days in Kazakhstan. The eight-day trip, which ends on Aug 31, is his first official visit to Central Asia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n SAMARKAND, Uzbekistan \u2013 Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited historic and religious landmarks in Samarkand and met the governor of the region during a two-day…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":80813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/80813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/picture><\/div>
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