DUSHANBE, May 7, Asia-Plus – Prince Amyn Aga Khan, younger brother of His Highness the Aga Khan, is arriving in Dushanbe for a short visit.
According to Tajik MFA, during his stay in Tajikistan, Prince Amyn Aga Khan will visit the construction site for Serena Hotel in Dushanbe and will review other programs of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in Tajikistan. Tomorrow morning, His Highness is expected to visit Khorog, the capital of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (Gorno Badakhshan or GBAO).
Sitora Shokamolova, a specialist with the AKDN CO in Tajikistan on communication and public relations, said the main purpose of the visit is for Prince Amyn Aga Khan to familiarize himself with a progress of the construction of the Dushanbe Serena Hotel and the Past Chid Serena in Khorog, as well as activity of the Serena Inn in Khorog, which has operated there since 2001.
We will recall that President Emomali Rahmonov on October 30 2006 laid the foundation stone of Dushanbe’s five-star hotel in the presence of His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (spiritual leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and Founder of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). A nine-story hotel is being constructed in the area of some 11,000 square meters in the center of Dushanbe, in the place of former shoe factory, opposite Vatan Cinema. The hotel will have 120 rooms, flexible office space of 1,250 square meters, banquet hall for 200 persons, rooftop restaurant for 100, coffee shop with sidewalk café, conference chamber, meeting rooms, shopping areas, business center with high-speed internet, rooftop swimming pool and rooftop health club. The hotel is expected to be finished in the spring 2008.
When completed, the Dushanbe Serena Hotel and the Past Chid Serena in Khorog will join several Serena properties across the region to help strengthen tourism development in areas rich in cultural sites, physical attractions and economic opportunity. These include Serena units in Kabul, Afghanistan, and at Islamabad, Quetta, Faisalabad, Gilgit and Swat in Pakistan.
Establishment of these world-class hotels will promote tourism, commercial and urban development in Tajikistan.
