Uzbekistan regards Japan as its No. 1 strategic partner, the ambassador to Japan, Alisher Shaykhov, said Thursday.

As the largest soft loan provider, Japan supplies 10 percent of all foreign aid to the central Asian country, Shaykhov noted during his visit to The Japan Times.

He said that his country hopes to receive more aid of this kind from Japan to improve education and management skills, which will help to develop the country and promote its market-oriented economy.

The 42-year-old Shaykhov, who arrived in Tokyo in January last year, is Uzbekistan's first ambassador to Japan and the youngest of all foreign ambassadors here.

He praised Japan's "Silk Road diplomacy" and its economic and cultural collaboration, including joint cultural and archaeological research in his country.

Explaining his country's effort to attain self-sufficiency in energy and food supplies since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Shaykhov stressed that Uzbekistan's economic development is progressing steadily according to a planned time-frame, despite some criticism of slowness.

The ambassador emphasized the similar nature and attitude of the people in Japan and Uzbekistan.

He disclosed that his government is building a Japanese garden in Tashkent, in cooperation with Japanese companies and organizations. It will be adjacent to a Japan Center being built to house the offices of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Japan External Trade Organization and the Japan Foundation.

A "Peace Bell" from Hiroshima will be set up in the Japanese garden. It will be rung for the first time in the garden in August next year, he said, adding that it is significant because Uzbekistan was the first to declare a nuclear-free zone in Central Asia.