A New Equation for Inclusive Growth and Cooperation
By Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director
Central Bank of Uzbekistan —Tashkent, Uzbekistan
May 17, 2019
As prepared for delivery
Introduction & Theme
Ladies and Gentlemen: Good morning! Assalom-Aleykum!
Governor Nurmuratov, thank you for that generous introduction. First Deputy Chairman Ishmetov, thank you for welcoming me today. It is a pleasure to be with all of you.
Before I arrived yesterday, I was told about a famous Uzbek proverb: “ A guest is greater than the father.”
As a guest in your country, I can say with confidence the hospitality of the people of Uzbekistan rivals that of anywhere in the world. All of us at the IMF are grateful. I did notice, however, this beautiful proverb makes no mention of where the mother stands in the hierarchy. I would like to think that she has a place of prominence at the very top. I will come back to this idea.
Now, of course, in addition to hospitality, there is another thing that one immediately thinks of when they arrive in Uzbekistan — history. For nearly 1,000 years, this landlocked region was a hub of trade and transformation. It was in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, the Ferghana Valley, and many other places all around us that the Silk Road grew from a simple trading route into a place that captured the world’s imagination.
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