On 5 April 2018 the newly appointed Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Kazakhstan, H.E. Mr. Saidikram Niyazhodjaev visited the ISTC Main Office in Astana at the invitation of Executive Director David Cleave. The ISTC Executive Director welcomed the Uzbek Ambassador and wished him success in the important mission of advancing the friendly bilateral relations between the two biggest countries in Central Asia with a decisive input in the regional security and cooperation. 

Executive Director David Cleave debriefed the Ambassador on the activities of ISTC and its transformation, and underlined the importance ISTC attributes to the participation of Uzbekistan in various regional ISTC-implemented projects, such as the EU funded CBRN CoE P-53 Strengthening the National Legal Framework and Provision of Specialized Training on Biosafety and Biosecurity in Central Asian Countries, or the EU Targeted Initiative Export Control on Dual-Use Materials and Technologies in Central Asia. Special attention was attributed to the legacy of past uranium mining in Central Asia, as well as efforts needed to remedy the situation. The European Union is implementing a major environmental programme in Central Asia to address the long-standing issue of uranium mining legacy in priority sites in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. ISTC already implements one such project in Tajikistan to help decrease the radioactive wastes impact on the environment and the population's health. It may very well provide the same kind of assistance to Uzbekistan. 
The two interlocutors exchanged views on international and regional security topics, including the Tashkent Conference on Afghanistan, held last month. In this context they noted the importance of the Afghan participation in disaster preparedness exercises, as exemplified by the Central Asia Region’s Radiological Emergency Response Exercise “SUNKAR”, organized in June 2017, at the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Astana, with the assistance of ISTC, or by the upcoming chemical toxin exercise “JEYRAN”, to be carried out in Tashkent next September.
Uzbekistan has also a record of successfully implemented cooperation projects with the ISTC homolog in Ukraine – The Science and Technology Center in Kiev. A forthcoming joint ISTC/STCU visit to the Uzbek Academy of Science in Tashkent may help take stock of the achievements and define the optimal forms of cooperation between Uzbek scientific and research organizations and the two Centers of Science and Technology. To that end, the Ambassador was requested to pass on via official channels the joint ISTC/STCU letter on the organization of the visit to the President of the Uzbek Academy of Science.
The meeting was also attended by: Mr. Timur Rakhimov, Counselor at the Embassy of Uzbekistan, Mr. Aidyn Turebayev, Deputy Executive Director, Mr. Kamen Velichkov, Senior Program Manager and Diplomatic Advisor, and Ms. Aiymgul Frith, Senior Program Manager.