Uzbek President Islam Karimov met with the Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the president’s press service said. At the meeting at Oskaroy residence, they discussed current and future cooperation between Uzbekistan and OIC.

"Your visit to our country and participation in the international conference, "Uzbekistan’s contribution to the development of the Islamic civilization," heightens the importance of this event," Karimov was quoted as saying by the press service.

As for the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), one of the OIC specialized institutions, having announced Tashkent a capital of the Islamic culture in 2007, the president stressed that, "this decision served further growth of importance of Uzbekistan’s international role and lifted the spirit of our nation at the same time."

Ihsanoglu praised, for his part, the current level of cooperation between the OIC and Uzbekistan.

"The ISESCO decision to designate Tashkent as a capital of the Islamic culture in 2007 is recognition of Uzbekistan’s role in the formation of Islamic civilization. We know many great names who grew up and created their works in this land. Not only Uzbekistan, but the entire Muslim world is proud of them," the president said.

"This decision is international recognition of the country leadership’s policy aimed at revival of cultural and spiritual values of the Uzbek people and measures taken to protect and preserve the monuments of the Islamic civilization and to study its legacy," the OIC Secretary General said.

Uzbekistan has been an OIC member since 1996, the press service said. "OIC has supported president Karimov’s initiatives to resolve the Afghan crisis, to create a Nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia," the press service said.

The sides also noted the successful cooperation between Uzbekistan and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), another OIC affiliated institution. Currently, the country is implementing in cooperation with the IDB over nine projects totaling US$115 million, which aims to equip educational institutions and medical organizations, modernize several factories, and support private enterprise, the president’s press service said.