From May 15 to 16, 2017, Tashkent and Samarkand hosted the First International Congress "Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan – Path to Dialogue among Peoples and Countries". Over 120 foreign and 100 national scientists and experts participated, specializing in the conservation and promotion of Uzbekistan's cultural and historical heritage, oriental studies, archaeology, history, Eastern manuscripts, numismatics, textiles, and ceramics.
Among the global science representatives were renowned scientists, museum directors, heads of scientific institutions, editors of scientific journals, and esteemed collectors from Russia, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, India, Egypt, Korea, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, the USA, China, Turkey, Greece, Azerbaijan, and other countries, along with representatives from UNESCO and ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites).
Notable attendees included: the Director of the UNESCO Bureau in Almaty and UNESCO Representative in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, Krista Pikat; General Director of the State Hermitage Museum, Mikhail Piotrovsky; Director of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Irina Popova; Honorary Director for Research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, P. Lerich; Director for Research at the Pembroke Center for Persian Studies, University of Cambridge, F. Melville, among other distinguished scholars.
