Ulugbek Kasimhodzhaev told us about the difficulties encountered before the launch of Silk Visa.
On April 29, 2019, Ulugbek Kasimhodzhaev, acting first deputy chairman of the State Committee for Tourism of Uzbekistan, said about what would be on the way of Tashkent and Nur-Sultan in the deal of launching Silk Visa, an analogue of the European Schengen, in the near future. According to him, these friendly countries have different approaches to visa-free regimes, the «Central News Service of Central Asia» writes.
The official said that the departments developing the tourism sector in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were working together on the launch of Silk Visa. At the same time, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have their own lists of countries with a visa-free regime. In addition, Kazakhs already have an analogue of the Uzbek electronic visa. Also, the cost of entry into each of the republics varies significantly. That’s why the authorities have to reach a compromise and eliminate the differences.
«So now we are working at all these details. And it is important to understand that the introduction of this visa is approved at the highest level, and we are all working at this question now, including the border army," Kasimhodzhaev said.
The official also added that the plan for the implementation of the Silk Visa project hasn’t actually been performed on time. However, earlier the presidents of the republics Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Nursultan Nazarbayev have unequivocally approved this initiative. By April, most of the work has already been done. The authorized bodies are now working at the remaining problems.
In the future, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan may also come in on the project. And there is a chance that Turkey and Azerbaijan will join them, too. Experts clarify that the launch of a single visa for almost all the republics of Central Asia will provide more of an accelerant to the fire of tourism and attract guests from foreign countries who are interested in the sights of not just one country but of the whole region.
