Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev named Asian of the Year

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev who has chartered a new course in his country's foreign policy including pathbreaking partnership with India has been selected as ‘Asian of the Year’ for 2018 by the Asia Journalist Association (AJA), whose headquarter is based in South Korea.

Putting effort in expanding Uzbekistan’s international relations Shavkat Mirziyoyev made numerous foreign trips, including to India. On October 1 he visited India on his historic State visit. 17 bilateral agreements have been signed to further deepening India-Uzbekistan relations.

President Mirziyoyev has taken initiatives to focus on good neighborhood relations, deepening regional cooperation and making Uzbekistan politically liberal and economically more attractive. As part of these measures Uzbekistan simplified its entry-visa regime exempting nationals of more than 70 countries. For citizens of other countries, including India, Uzbekistan offers simplified e-viza regime.


The winners were selected after thorough deliberation by the AJA leaders and evaluation of the representatives of participating countries.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the President of Uzbekistan, was named for the politics category, as he has been instrumental in addressing longstanding issues in Central Asia and deepening constructive interaction between countries in the region. Since he was elected as President in December 2016, Mirziyoyev undertook historical reforms for political and economic liberalization of the country, significantly improve democracy and human rights.

For the past year the UN General Assembly adopted two resolutions based on the initiatives of the President of Uzbekistan. These include resolutions “Strengthening regional and international cooperation to ensure peace, stability and sustainable development in the Central Asian Region” and “Enlightenment and religious tolerance”.