Firdavs Abdukhalikov

Firdavs Fridunovich Abdukhalikov was born on 10 August 1963 in Samarkand. He studied philology at Samarkand State University, later took a master's degree in economics, and holds a doctorate in art history. He worked as a teacher in 1985 and in 1988 became director of the Samarkand Youth Center, where he opened a television studio for entertainment shows.

In 1989 he founded STV, described as the country's first non-governmental TV channel. In 1998, by presidential decree, he became vice-chairman of the National Television and Radio Company of Uzbekistan and launched the youth channel Yoshlar. He was chief consultant of the President's press service in 1999–2002 and a member of parliament and chairman of its Committee on Youth Affairs in 1999–2004.

In 2003 he founded and headed the National Association of Electronic Mass Media of Uzbekistan, leaving the chairmanship in early 2022. In 2018 he was elected chairman of the World Society for the Study, Preservation and Popularization of the Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan (WOSCU). He is named as the initiator of the 70-volume series on Uzbekistan's cultural heritage in the world's museums and of the "114 Qurans" and "Great Qurans of the World" projects.

In 2019–2024 he was director general of the Cinematography Agency of Uzbekistan. Films made with the agency's participation include Ilhaq (2020), Tutqunlik (2021), Ayol qismati (2022), Uzbechka (2023), Bahodir Yalangto'sh (2024) and Uch qahramon (2024); he is credited as a producer on some of them. In June 2024 he was appointed director of the Center of Islamic Civilization under the Cabinet of Ministers.

His honours include the Order of Labour Glory, the title Honoured Journalist of Uzbekistan, the International Avicenna Prize of the French Academy of Medicine (2019), the Christian Frähn gold medal (2023) and the TURKSOY gold medal (2023).