Presidential candidate and the current President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting with voters in Samarkand, during which he reported about his plans to further develop the region.

According to Mirziyoyev:

• a 10,000-seat mosque will be built at the Imam Bukhari Memorial Complex in Payariq
• Samarkand State University will be named after Sharof Rashidov
• poverty will be halved by creating 450,000 jobs
• business and tourism center will be established, 50 electric buses will be brought
• 41 trillion soums will be allocated for the development of the region
• mega-projects will be launched to turn the region into an “innovative industry hub”
• government offices and administrative service buildings will be relocated from Samarkand to a new territory
• all specialized medical services provided in Tashkent will be launched in Samarkand as well