Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan were relatively unfamiliar to me until the dismantlement of the Soviet Union in 1991.
My fascination with these Central Asian countries, particularly Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, dates back to the early 1990s when I was deeply involved in the raw cotton business. The Korean Kabul Spinning Company, in collaboration with Kabul Uzbekistan and Kabul Tajikistan, was a prominent player in the textile sector of the countries. I supplied cotton to various companies. Additionally, I promoted the cotton of these nations to other countries through my head cotton merchant in Paris.
I had the honor of visiting Uzbekistan and Tajikistan at the invitation of the Korean Kabul Spinning Company to attend the dedicatory ceremony of the Kabul Uzbekistan and Kabul Tajikistan Company in 1996.
The trip comprised a Korean business delegation composed of leading textile experts, cotton merchants, financial groups and bankers, who were warmly welcomed by both nations.
In particular, during our visit to Dushanbe, the capital........