Buttressing the ambitious scheme is Korean Air, Korea’s foremost flag carrier, which is playing an instrumental role in catapulting the Central Asian city to become a heart of the Silk Road of the new millennium.

Korean Air President Chi Chang-hoon, concurrently chief operating officer of the firm, said that when the cargo terminal is completed next month in Navoi, the framework of the new Silk Road would materialize.

“Navoi used to be a small airport visited by a couple of flights a week. But it will be a bustling logistics hub situated at the core of Central Asia. It already accommodates a substantial number of flights,” Chi said on a telephone interview. “The new Silk Road connecting Asia and Europe is due."

Chi presented the vision of generating the airborne Silk Road at a global conference on anti-crisis programs held in Tashkent earlier this week under the stewardship of Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov.

More than 100 economists, journalists and bureaucrats took part in the international event including former Korea Development Institute head Hyun Jung-taik and Korea National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation Chairman Yang Soo-gil.

Midway through 2008, Korean Air clinched a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with state-run Uzbekistan Airways to cooperate in international cargo services at the Navoi-based airport.

Under the MOU, Korean Air has offered helping hands in setting up logistics center there and last year the world leader in aviation cargo transportations launched freight operations connecting Navoi and Korea.

In addition, the Seoul-based company started taking charge of managing the airport beginning last year through 2018 based on its knack and expertise during the past four decades in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

Chi said the bilateral collaboration is a win-win partnership between the two entities.

“Uzbekistan can take advantage of our know-how and experiences in establishing a logistics infrastructure in Navoi airport, which is necessary to boost exports-driven growth down the road,” Chi said.

“We can also preempt the markets of the emerging country whose growth potential is exponential thanks to rich natural resources, ample workforces and geographical advantages.”

On top of aviation, Uzbekistan is putting other means of transportations such as rails or highways around Navoi. Hanjin Group, the mother company of Korean Air, works in the fields by creating a joint-venture with a local outfit.

Around the airport, Uzbekistan is creating industrial clusters by designating there as a Free Industrial-Economic Zone in order to draw foreign manufacturers from across the world.

More than 10 Korean firms promised to wade into the potential-laden areas. Chi said a number of big Korean companies are also mulling over making inroads into the Uzbek city.