Uzbekistan & Indonesia Eye Pilgrimage Tourism, Trade Deals

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan and Indonesia are targeting pilgrimage tourism as a flagship of deepening ties — alongside a push to unlock investment in chemicals, pharma, and agriculture.

Uzbekistan's Deputy Foreign Minister Mirvohid Azimov met with Indonesia's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Uzbekistan, Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin, in Tashkent on June 9, covering a broad bilateral agenda that ranged from trade diversification to joint event preparation, with tourism emerging as one of the most promising areas of cooperation.

The two sides zeroed in on ziyarat tourism — Islamic pilgrimage travel centered on sacred historical and religious sites — as a standout opportunity, a natural fit given Uzbekistan's unrivaled concentration of Islamic heritage landmarks in cities such as Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva, and Indonesia's status as the world's largest Muslim-majority nation with a population exceeding 270 million.

Talks also addressed the practical mechanics of expanding economic engagement: growing mutual trade volumes, diversifying the structure of exports and imports, and dismantling existing barriers to broader commercial interaction. Both delegations underscored the importance of filling upcoming joint events with concrete projects and documents capable of giving fresh momentum to the bilateral relationship.

On the investment front, Indonesia's potential role in Uzbekistan's chemical, pharmaceutical, and agricultural sectors was discussed specifically — industries that Tashkent has been actively seeking foreign capital to develop as part of its post-2016 economic opening.

"The sides confirmed their mutual interest in further deepening the partnership and expanding cooperation across all key areas of the bilateral agenda," according to the official readout issued following the meeting.

The talks reflect a wider pattern of Uzbekistan diversifying its diplomatic and economic partnerships beyond its traditional post-Soviet orbit, actively courting Southeast Asian partners as its reform-driven economy continues to grow.