The day after the famous singer’s concert, my way led toward the Chorsu market, and to have lunch I went into a small eatery and ordered half a portion of plov.
Involuntarily, the thought crossed my mind — I wonder if they ever served plov to Jennifer Lopez?
Well, if invited, Jennifer might come to the Old Juva market, but she won’t.
The reason is that her work schedule, like all stars, is strictly planned.
If she did come, tasting the plov, at best she might praise the excellence of our fruits.
Perhaps, just once for our sake, she would call plov a wonderful dish, and at the age of 70 or 80, if asked in an interview, she might remember that she had been to Uzbekistan.
It is more likely that the concert organizers treated the singer to plov.
The visit of the singer and actress to Tashkent was a big event; both those who spoke and those who didn’t spoke about it.
I thought that conversations about Lopez’s concert might especially be lively at the market.
In the eatery I entered, about thirty to forty people were having lunch, but the topic of conversation was not the American singer.
The diners were talking about how to cool down in this heat and about the worries of everyday life.
Among them were also foreigners: a Muslim family from China and a father and son from Panjakent, Tajikistan.
We exchanged a few words.
The guests from Panjakent said they came for treatment, quickly crossed the border, noted the abundance of cars, came through Samarkand to Tashkent, and that the market was crowded.
They were happy that the long-standing comings and goings had been restored.
With the Chinese guests, I went down into the metro.
The new metro trains were cool, and the heat outside was quickly forgotten.
Until we reached the metro, we encountered many foreigners.
Turkish brothers, English and Russians, Kazakh neighbors — all were walking around the market.
Over the last six or seven years, it has been noticeable that the number of tourists coming to our country has increased.
Every day on the streets, in markets, parks, and medical institutions, you can meet them.
We have only recently begun to utilize our tourism potential and are just at the beginning of a big promising road.
According to data, last year more than 62 million tourists came to Turkey, and the country earned 65 billion dollars from this.
In the first half of 2025, Turkey was visited by 26,388,831 people, with tourism revenue reaching 25.8 billion dollars.
It was at the time when we gained independence that Turkey began to increase its tourism potential.
In 1992, President of Turkey Turgut Özal, gathering a group of entrepreneurs in Antalya, said:
“Allah has given us such opportunities; we can either use them and earn income, or throw our money into the air,” and explained the essence of the matter.
The entrepreneurs, joining together, began to create all the infrastructure to earn income through tourism.
The result is clearly seen in the above facts.
When he was serving as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Turkey to Uzbekistan, Olgan Bekar said in an interview with our publication:
“In the field of tourism, your country has great potential. You have tourism centers such as Khiva, Samarkand, Bukhara, Shakhrisabz. If these opportunities are used effectively, Uzbekistan will also become one of the most attractive tourism countries in the world.”
As we mentioned above, the flow of tourists coming to our country is increasing and has never decreased.
The opening of our borders, the rapidly developing friendly cooperation with near and far countries, the conditions being created for foreign investors — all of this is indeed increasing our country’s tourism attractiveness.
A person is forgetful.
Do you remember, nine years ago we could not withdraw money credited to our plastic cards, had to plead with some “helpers,” not to mention how pensioners suffered.
It was difficult to get cash both in the bank and at ATMs.
Obtaining foreign currency was ten times more difficult.
Our children, after finishing the 9th grade, were forced to go to a college or lyceum they did not want.
Entering a higher education institution... “bunkers”...
On test day, mobile phones were turned off — another strange thing.
Buying a car was another story; the only car plant did whatever it wanted.
Traveling for treatment, tourism, or to see close relatives was hard; and those who could not go to the funeral of their father or mother in a neighboring country had their own special sorrow...
Fortunately, all this is over.
Now there are many of our compatriots who have obtained citizenship and travel to any country in the world.
Our young people are entering the educational institutions they want and studying in top universities abroad.
Now the car plant that once created shortages is ready to accept installment payments, offering cars to our compatriots, and world-famous cars are being assembled and sold here.
So it is possible!
By the way, we even forgot to mention that in Tashkent, which was like a “separate state” within the country, the residence permit was abolished and the checkpoints between regions were removed.
These things did not happen easily.
It is better always to remember the political will and efforts of the state.
Now back to Jennifer Lopez.
The music megastar is holding a world tour.
Before coming to Tashkent, she gave a concert in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, on August 3.
The Armenian service of Radio Liberty reported that Lopez’s concert cost the state budget of Armenia 6 million dollars and gave detailed information about how these funds would be spent.
It was noted that the singer’s fee would be 2.5 million dollars.
On July 2, the Deputy Mayor of Yerevan, Armen Pambukchyan, stated that the government had allocated 7 million dollars for Jennifer Lopez’s show, that 15,000 foreign spectators were expected, and that if each spent at least 500 dollars, the expenses would be easily covered.
Pambukchyan especially emphasized that the megastar’s concert would help promote the country on a global scale.
The arrival of the megastar in the capital of our neighbor Kazakhstan, Astana, also became a sensation.
Publications released materials about the concert one after another, and various opinions were expressed.
The publication Tengrilife on April 8 shared the words of Malik Hasenov, producer of the company “Astana Concert,” about the show with Jennifer Lopez, scheduled for August 1.
Malik Hasenov said that this concert would bring 400 million tenge to the state budget and that 15,000 spectators would come from abroad.
In fact, 10,000 spectators from 30 countries attended the concert.
Among the guests were our compatriots and fans from neighboring Tajikistan.
For Lopez’s concert in Tashkent, 25,000 tickets were sold, and 67 percent of them — 15,000 — were bought by foreigners.
It was emphasized that these spectators bought 4–6-day tour packages and intended to travel around our country.
Thanks to the concert, such calculations became known, which also caused thousands of comments on social networks.
Some approved of holding the concert, others not.
In our opinion, such concerts are necessary to promote our country to the world through tourism development.
By organizing tourism services, it is possible to create many jobs, ensure permanent employment of the population, and allow for stable income.
Now a word about comments: comments show who wrote them, their level, and they affect the general mood.
For almost 150 years, first Tsarist Russia and later the Soviet system, as a result of colonial policy, destroyed progressive thinkers, brainwashed our nation, which had given the world scientists and scholars.
The goal of the colonizers was for this nation not to think, not to demand independence, not to raise its head in the future, and not to draw strength from its rich history.
To some extent, they succeeded.
Even now, various forces, especially those trying to control young people without independent thinking and worldview through social networks, are striving to sow distrust toward the reforms carried out by our state and to prevent national unity.
They skillfully try to influence those who write comments.
That is why one should not become a victim of their tricks.
There are two systems that make a nation a nation, a state a state, and give people the opportunity to live prosperously and freely: education and healthcare.
Without their development, it is impossible to achieve anything.
For this reason, our state is carrying out decisive reforms in these areas.
As citizens of this country, we must also be ready to support these good deeds.
Stars like Lopez come and go; they are completely unaware of comments about them, and they are not interested in them.
Their nature and way of life are completely different.
They will not change because of comments.
Our people have a wise proverb: “Even if you joke, speak thoughtfully.”
The main thing is not to forget this.
