Your Excellency Ambassador Jonathan Henick,

Distinguished guests,

It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the International Institute for Central Asia. I would like to express my sincere appreciation, Your Excellency, for accepting our invitation. Your presence today continues a valued tradition of open dialogue and professional engagement that deepens mutual understanding and trust.

Dear friends,

Today we are honored to welcome His Excellency Jonathan Henick, U.S. Ambassador to Uzbekistan. I have known the ambassador for around 10 years now. Thanks to his efforts, in 2021, the format of political consultations was transformed into the “Strategic Partnership Dialogue between Uzbekistan and the United States,” encompassing the economy, security, and environmental issues. The first meeting of this new format took place in Tashkent and laid the foundation for comprehensive cooperation.

Ambassador Henick has been serving as the US Ambassador to Uzbekistan since 2022 and brings with him vast diplomatic experience and deep expertise. Most recently, he served as the Consul General in Istanbul, Turkey. Prior to that, he also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Central Asia Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. He also served as the Principal Deputy Coordinator and Acting Coordinator for the Bureau for International Information Programs. Ambassador Henick has served overseas as the Counselor for Public Affairs in Turkey, the Deputy Chief of Mission in Timor-Leste, as well as in other positions in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Portugal, and Uzbekistan.

Dear Mr. Ambassador,

There could hardly be a more fitting moment for this public lecture. As we have all witnessed, over the past year both bilateral and multilateral relations between Uzbekistan and the United States have reached a new level. We marked the 10th anniversary of the C5+1 format and held the first-ever high-level C5+1 Summit at the White House in Washington, D.C.

President Mirziyoyev and President Trump met on several occasions: on the margins of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, during the C5+1 Summit in Washington, D.C., and most recently at the signing ceremony of the Board of Peace Charter in Davos in January.

We now have the U.S.–Uzbekistan Business and Investment Council in place. Just last week, the second B5+1 Business Forum was held in Bishkek and was attended by Sergio Gor, the U.S. President’s Special Envoy for South and Central Asia – who, I should note, has visited Uzbekistan twice in less than a year.

Here at the International Institute for Central Asia, we also hosted the inaugural U.S.–Central Asia Think Tank Forum last year, further strengthening expert-level dialogue between our regions.

I would also like to note that this year the United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of its independence, while we will mark the 35th anniversary of ours. It is a particularly fitting moment for dialogue, as both our nations are celebrating the sacred value of independence – a principle that lies at the heart of our statehood, identity, and shared commitment to sovereignty and freedom.

Mr. Ambassador, I am certain you will speak in much greater detail about these developments, so I will not dwell on them. But I would like to emphasize one point: the current momentum in our relations is truly historic. We have not seen this level of engagement before, and Uzbekistan remains firmly committed to further elevating this partnership.

It is deeply symbolic that you are with us today, amid these positive developments, to address an audience composed of representatives from government ministries, think tanks, universities, and the academic community – people who are genuinely engaged in these transformations and eager to hear your perspectives.

2026 promises to be a highly productive year in our bilateral relations. President Mirziyoyev and President Trump are scheduled to meet next week at the inaugural session of the Board of Peace, which we believe will open a new chapter in our strategic dialogue and practical cooperation.

Dear guests,

In closing, I am confident that today’s exchange of views will lead to practical cooperation and further strengthen the bridge between Central Asia and the United States.

We will now proceed to the lecture by Ambassador Jonathan Henick, after which there will be an opportunity for questions and discussion.

Mr. Ambassador, it is my pleasure to give you the floor.