Welcome to Tashkent, the gateway to Central Asia and the famous cities along The Great Silk Road, Welcome to a metropolis of contrast, where ancient traditions and believes are still strongly rooted, coexisting with the amenities of the 21st Century, where a multitude of people and nationalities live peacefully side-by-side. Tashkent has always been and still is a city of tolerance and we do hope you will feel this upon your first visit. In this line we have dedicated our title page in memoriam of one of Uzbekistan's finest fashion photographers to all the young people here who live their traditions and at the same time have traveled abroad, seen the world and who now have to find a way to respond to all expectations, to overcome rooted obstacles and build their own future. Right here. We know these young motivated and dedicated people need help...

A warm welcome to all EBRD participants. It is our hope that apart from the political and financial stories you will be carrying back home, there will be stories of great human encounters and new friendships and good times. We know for certain there will be many funny stories to tell back home.

Here a funny story, in the other sense of the word, which now circulates in Bukhara, courtesy of o French travel agent. They too seem to have become shrewd financial and political analysts these days, His recent email to one of the small b&b's read:"how are you? We are writing to confirm our reservation from XX to XX. We have heard that prices in Uzbekistan are going done(sic) because of the international situation. We are not going to ask you to lower your price of XX per person bu we like you to include lunch and dinner and all meals and free accommodation for our driver. We know you can do this and we know it will still be profitable for you". A pitty that we don't have the space here to publish the answer we came up with.

Our focus is on Tashkent these days, very obviously. Tashkent has a lot to offer, though not at first glance and we're pleased to being able to unravel some of Tashkent's secrets to you. Maybe you'll share some of your favorites with us. We're always grateful for feedback and opinions.