Tazeen Akhtar
Our visit to “Silk Road” International University of Tourism was another great experience after covering the International Conference “Central and South Asia: Regional Interconnectedness. Challenges and Opportunities”, held on the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on July 15-16 in Tashkent.
International Adviser to the Rector of the University A. K Ospanova arranged warm welcome and briefing for international journalists. The journalists delegation comprised of the members from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Ukraine, Austria, Italy and other countries.
Ms A.K. Ospanova shared that university will soon have its own commercial hotel with all services. The hotel will be run by the students. This is unique idea to equip the students with practical experience of hospitality.
It is in line with the vision of the President Shavkat to prepare the new generation in the field of tourism and hospitality with state of the art technology and know how. Connectivity brings more guests to your country and they observe the standards of your facilities and expertise of your people in how they welcome them.
The guests visited the university building, which has the status of a “smart campus”, equipped according to the standards of the most prestigious higher educational institutions in the world.
Special attention was paid to the educational and production complex, which includes hotel rooms, a bar-restaurant, a conference hall for 250 people equipped with advanced technologies, a university canteen made in the style of a cafeteria, a universal sports hall, a swimming pool, as well as an ultramodern Library decorated in a modern design and acting as a full-fledged high-tech center of tourist knowledge.
During the visit, the guests met with the teaching staff of the university, where teachers and students demonstrated practical developments of creating projects in the field of tourism.
The university administration in its introductory article published on its website states that the development of human resources, training of qualified specialists in the field of tourism is one of the important tools and strategies of this rapidly developing industry. The requirements for professional training of specialists for the tourism sector are determined by the current state and trends in the development of world tourism, the international hospitality industry and the formation of modern services that meet the needs of tourists around the world.
This was also noted by the head of our state Sh. Mirziyoyev at the G8 Summit, within the framework of the meeting of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, held in the Chinese city of Qingdao. On the same day, the President of our country put forward the idea of creating an international specialized institute in the field of tourism. Thus, thanks to this initiative, the Silk Road International University of Tourism was opened in Samarkand in July 2018.
Editor Pakistan in the World asked Ms Ospanova about the probability of admissions of Pakistani students in this university. She replied that Pakistani students are welcome and we are receiving interest from many. They can see our website and remain informed about the admissions. The university also conducts online classes for distance education.
It is particular to mention here that at the end of July 2021, Head of Lahore University Mr Awais Rauf visited the same university and discussed mutual cooperation with the high officials of the university. Both heads agreed to work jointly to further cement the relations and partnership between the two universities. Other Pakistani universities can explore the same opportunities offered by this university.
Editor Tazeen Akhtar with Ms A.K. Ospanova at the University
