Following the ceremony, Sheikh Tamim and President Mirziyoyev held official talks in Tashkent.

Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attended the seventh edition of the International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award ceremony in Uzbekistan on Tuesday.

“Today, with the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, I honoured a new group of winners of the International Anti-Corruption Excellence Award, an event that we are keen to sponsor annually to support the efforts of individuals and institutions to eliminate this complex phenomenon that undermines progress and discourages sustainable development,” Sheikh Tamim said in a post on X.

Established in 2015 at the eighth Conference of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities in Russia, the award exhibits Qatar’s commitment to the prevention of corruption.

Sheikh Tamim and President Mirziyoyev presented this year’s Academic Research and Education Award to Suncana Roksandic and Jon S.T. Quah, Qatar’s news agency reported.

The two leaders then awarded the All4Integrity organisation and Damaris Aswa the ‘Youth Creativity and Engagement Award.’

Sheikh Tamim and President Mirziyoyev awarded Clare Rewcastle Brown and Phil Mason with the ‘Innovation / Investigative Journalism Award’. Shantanu Guha Rai and Waihiga Mwaura both received the ‘Safguarding Sports from Corruption Award’.

Jose Ugaz received this year’s ‘Lifetime / Outstanding Achievement Award.’

Qatar-Uzbekistan hold official talks

Following the ceremony, Sheikh Tamim and President Mirziyoyev held official talks in Tashkent, the Amiri Diwan said in a statement.

The two leaders welcomed the announcement of raising the level of partnerships between Doha and Tashkent “to the strategic level in order to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries to higher and more comprehensive horizons”.

“His Highness stressed the keenness of the two countries to enhance their cooperation in a way that achieves the interests of the two friendly peoples,” the Amiri Diwan said.

Uzbekistan’s president had visited Qatar on October 2, where the two countries signed new agreements and memoranda.

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding between Doha and Tashkent’s interior ministries over the cooperation in combating and preventing crime.

Another MoU between Qatar’s Administrative Control and Transparency and Uzbekistan’s Anti-Corruption Agency aimed at combating corruption. 

The two countries signed a third MoU in the field of investment between the Qatar Investment Authority and Uzbekistan’s Fund for Reconstruction and Development.

Doha and Tashkent’s bilateral ties date back to 1997, when both countries signed a protocol that officially marked the start of their diplomatic relations.

Uzbekistan was also the first stop of Sheikh Tamim’s Central Asia tour in June, where he met with President Mirziyoyev in Samarkand.

At the time, both leaders explored the implementation of mutual investment and trade plans while discussing regional and international developments. 

Some of the new agreements and MoU’s signed during the previous meeting included the exemption from travel visa requirements for holders of diplomatic passports and trade cooperation. 

Sheikh Tamim and President Mirziyoyev marked the occasion by planting a tree at Samarkand’s Congress Center garden.