Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — For more than 12 years, Nilufar Mirzaeva worked on international industrial and energy projects in Uzbekistan alongside engineers and managers from Japan, Spain, Greece, France and Slovakia. The main milestone of her career was the construction of an ammonia and urea production complex at Navoiazot, valued at approximately US$985.74 million: there she was the chief coordinator and she connected the international team with the client, government authorities and contractors. Mirzaeva now lives in the United States, where she is pursuing an Executive MBA. Tatyana Ilyina spoke with her about how the daughter of a photojournalist from Navoi found herself at the negotiating table with Mitsubishi.
A Dream Gifted by a Birthday
Nilufar grew up in Navoi in a large family. Her mother worked as a nurse, while her father was a photojournalist. When her father fell ill, the children began helping him by developing and printing photographs and delivering them to clients. Mirzaeva says this taught her responsibility, discipline and respect for other people’s work from an early age.
Her birthday falls on 4 July. Her mother often joked that Americans celebrate Independence Day on that date, so people there would surely give her plenty of presents. Over time, the family joke turned into a dream: to see the United States one day.
But America was still a distant prospect, and learning languages became the first step. Nilufar had not studied English at school and only began learning it seriously at the age of 18. She combined her university studies with private English lessons and extensive independent study before transferring from the Russian Language and Literature Department to the Foreign Languages Department. There, she passed a selection process for classes with an American instructor who had come to Uzbekistan through an international educational program.
After graduating, Nilufar spent four years teaching English to children whose native language was Uzbek, which prompted her to improve her own Uzbek considerably. Two years later, the director of the language center, impressed by her work ethic and the feedback from students and parents, offered her the position of deputy director.
She then spent a year working as a hotel administrator before receiving her first offer in the industrial sector, from a Spanish company that was building a gas turbine facility. After that, Nilufar worked with a Slovak project team and her next step was to become chief coordinator and interpreter for the construction of the complex at Navoiazot.
Navoiazot: A First Experience for Everyone
Navoiazot implemented the project, valued at approximately US$985.74 million, in cooperation with a consortium comprising Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Corporation. The new complex was designed to produce 660,000 tons of ammonia and approximately 578,000 tons of urea annually.
“I was one of the first representatives of the Uzbek side to work with the Japanese team at the site. Initially, they needed help understanding local construction regulations and administrative procedures, so I sat down and learned alongside them. I worked as an interpreter, an administrator and the chief coordinator, helped the finance department and worked with management. I remember attending a meeting with senior executives for the first time — I was shaking! I thought I might translate something incorrectly and ruin everything. But one of the client’s managers reassured me and said I was doing everything right,” Nilufar recalls.
For both the Uzbek and Japanese companies, it was their first experience working together. This meant Nilufar had to do more than translate: she had to convey not only the words but also their meaning, ensuring that meetings ended with a handshake rather than a misunderstanding.
“I carried notebooks with me and wrote down every new word. Making a translation mistake once is forgivable. Making the same mistake a second time counts against you. The workload and responsibility were huge, but the work was incredibly interesting because every day brought something new. My previous experience working with documents also came in handy, along with everything I had learned on my long journey with languages,” she says.
Toshiya Akiba, the project director for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, worked with Nilufar for more than three years. “The project was successfully completed in 2021. As chief coordinator, she ensured communication between the international project team and representatives of the client, government authorities, subcontractors and other key stakeholders in Uzbekistan. She also helped coordinate important project documentation and payment processes. Her professionalism, sense of responsibility and ability to resolve complex issues between people from different organizations and cultures helped the team work effectively together,” he said.
Figures and Documents
Initially, Nilufar worked with all departments until the head of the finance department noticed her and invited her to join his team.
“I enjoyed working with figures and documents. I prepared and coordinated the documents required for the delivery and payment of major industrial equipment. Every document went through several levels of review, so accuracy and deadlines were crucial. When I left the project, partners wrote to say that I had been easy to work with because the documents were always ready on time and error-free,” she says.
A former process engineer at Navoiazot who now heads a PVC production plant, Husen Saidov, confirms this assessment. According to him, thanks to her attentiveness and promptness, working issues between the client and the contractor were resolved faster, while at the meetings she helped the parties to find mutual understanding.
A Handshake She Will Never Forget
Another dream came true for Nilufar during the same project. In December 2019, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited the construction site, and she interpreted his speech for the company’s foreign representatives.
“To attend the meeting, we had to pass several security checks. We stood in a line: my director was first, I was next to him, followed by two other managers. The president approached us and shook each of our hands. I almost burst into tears, but managed to hold them back. It was a brief moment, but one I will remember for the rest of my life,” Nilufar says.
Sunshine, the Pandemic and Occupational Safety
In 2020, the pandemic changed the international team’s usual working routine. During this period, Mirzaeva moved to a new project: the construction of the 100 MW Tutly solar power plant in Samarkand Region.
She handled occupational health and safety documentation, managed contracts, interpreted and worked with local government agencies. During the pandemic, Nilufar coordinated cooperation with medical institutions and the Ministry of Health and helped organize vaccination for project employees. At METKA EGN, as at Mitsubishi, safety was the top priority. For local workers who had never worked with foreign companies before, these standards were a new experience.
The Tutly project gave her further experience in renewable energy and occupational safety. By then, she had worked on several major international projects and Nilufar felt ready to take the next step.
Back to America
Her childhood dream came back into focus. Deciding to move was not easy: her family, a stable job and promising projects remained in Uzbekistan. Nevertheless, Mirzaeva left for the United States to continue her education and gain experience in a new professional and cultural environment.
She had to adapt to different expectations and a different style of business communication. While working at Hilton, she ranked among the top three employees for upselling and attracting new members to the loyalty program during certain reporting periods.
At the same time, Nilufar continued her studies. She earned certificates in advanced and business English and completed the International Business Administration program at San Diego University for Integrative Studies in December 2024. She is now pursuing an Executive MBA at Alliant University, studying management, leadership and managerial decision-making.
Looking ahead, she plans to return to major construction and energy projects, work with international teams and pass her experience on to the next generation of specialists.
“Responsibility, determination and the ability to find common ground with people from different professions and cultures help me achieve results,” Nilufar Mirzaeva says.
