Representatives of the administration of the largest city of the North-West of the USA, the Association of Sister Cities "Tashkent-Seattle", the University of Washington, the Uzbek Diaspora and other countries of Central Asia, the general public took part in the celebrations.

The attendees were able to enjoy the cultural program, which included performances by Uzbek musicians and performers, dance compositions, an exhibition of photographic materials about our country, as well as the display of national dresses.

In a welcoming address to the gathered co-presidents of the Association of Sister Cities "Tashkent-Seattle" L. Zakharov and S. Ismayilov underlined the notable popularization of the celebration of Navruz in Seattle, as evidenced by the annual increase in number of people wishing to participate in the event.

It was also stressed that the activity and successful activity of the association is carried out, first of all, thanks to the support of the government of Uzbekistan, as well as the administrations of Tashkent and Seattle.

A member of the City Council of Seattle, T.Masked, assured the commitment of the municipality to continue supporting the work of the association aimed at cultural, educational and business exchange, as well as deepening mutual understanding between the peoples of the two countries.

In his speeches, the Deputy Khokim of Tashkent D.Nazhmiddinov and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Uzbekistan to the USA J. Vakhabov told about the radical reforms implemented in Uzbekistan over the past year and a half, the ongoing transformations in the political and socio-economic spheres.

Thus, it was noted that special attention was paid to the issue of ensuring the interests and human rights of the country’s leadership. That is why, at the suggestion of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the 2017 was declared the Year of Dialogue with the People and of Human Interests. In this regard, during the year, the entire system of relations between the authorities and the population has been radically revised, and a dialogue has been established.

It was stressed that the leadership of the republic attaches great importance to the development of ties with the Uzbek diaspora abroad. The call was made to every compatriot to make a feasible contribution to the progress of his country, in fact to support the process of transformation.

Within the framework of his stay on American soil, the delegation of the Tashkent khokimiyat also held a meeting with compatriots living in Seattle and discussed a number of initiatives on their involvement in the development of Uzbekistan. For example, the possibility of conducting webinars (online seminars) for programmers of the republic on the part of specialists of such companies as Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft from among our fellow citizens is discussed.

A decision was made to create a cell in the Seattle Youth Association of Uzbekistan in the countries of America as the primary organization of the Youth Union, and the cell leader was elected. An agreement was reached to provide the Diaspora through the Tashkent City Council of the Union of Youth of the Republic with 1 thousand pieces of educational and fiction literature, which will be distributed in 48 libraries of the city in order to give compatriots easy access to them.

Within the framework of the visit, the representatives of the capital administration also took part in the meeting of the City Council of Seattle, at which its chairman B. Harrel read the official proclamation on the 45th anniversary of the establishment of twin-city relations between Tashkent and Seattle. The statement said the importance of people’s diplomacy, as in the relaxation of tensions between the USSR and the United States (Tashkent became the first Soviet city to establish twin-city relations with the American municipality) and the development of modern relations between Uzbekistan and the United States.

In a separate meeting with Vice-Mayor of Seattle S.Ranganathan, the host party stressed that the cooperation between Tashkent and Seattle is most active in comparison with all the other 22 cities of other countries with which Seattle has twin-city relations.

The visit of the delegation was rich in results and in the economic sphere. Negotiations were held with representatives of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and Industry and corporations such as Boeing, Microsoft, the largest travel agency of the State of Washington MIR Corporation, the private ambulance company American Medical Response, the Harborview Medical Center, the construction company McKinstry, the tourist attraction organization. Seattle, as well as the management of the tourist and entertainment complex "Seattle Center", the American Consortium of Universities.

At the CCI of Seattle, a round table was organized with the participation of business circles of the city and honorary consuls - representatives of large companies, where the investment, export and tourism potential of Uzbekistan and the capital of our country was presented.

The Chamber leadership initiated the initiative to resume the memorandum of cooperation signed with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan in 1997 and organize a joint event in the future with a visit to Seattle by Uzbek entrepreneurs.

During the negotiations in Boeing, its representatives noted that by 2020 they plan to supply four Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, in addition to two, which are already operated by the national air carrier of Uzbekistan.

A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed with the MIR Corporation, possibilities for increasing the number of American tourists sent by this company to Uzbekistan were considered. An agreement was reached on the active use of the potential of American specialists in the development of tourism in our country: professors of US universities will be invited to hold lectures and meetings in profile universities and centers of the country. An open competition is planned for the American audience about Uzbekistan with a free trip to our country as a prize.

Following the visit to Seattle, the heads of the delegation of Tashkent also signed memorandums of cooperation with Visit Seattle on the exchange of experience in attracting tourists to Uzbekistan, the sister city association Tashkent-Seattle for the implementation of initiatives of compatriots, the American consortium of universities on mutual internships, Soft Sids" and STC World on the export of goods produced in the capital region of our republic.