Vladimir Norov

Vladimir Norov was born in Bukhara on 31 August 1955. He graduated from the mathematics department of the Bukhara Pedagogical Institute in 1976, served in the army and from 1978 worked in the internal affairs bodies of the Bukhara region; in 1983–1985 he studied at the Academy of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In the 1990s he moved to diplomatic service: first deputy minister of foreign affairs in 1995–1996, then state adviser to the president on interstate and foreign economic relations in 1996–1998. He was ambassador to Germany in 1998–2003, also accredited to Switzerland and Poland, then again first deputy minister, and until 2006 ambassador to Belgium.

From 12 July 2006 to 28 December 2010 he was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, then first deputy minister until 2013. He later served as ambassador to the Benelux countries and in 2017–2018 as director of the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President. In June 2018 the summit in Qingdao approved him as Secretary-General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a post he held from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2021.

At the end of 2021 he became deputy and then first deputy foreign minister; on 27 April 2022 he was made acting minister, was confirmed as minister on 9 September, was released on 30 December and appointed director of the International Institute for Central Asia. On 21 June 2023 he announced his retirement after 45 years of public service and founded the consultancy Silk Road Advisory.

He received Uzbekistan's Order of Mehnat Shuhrati in 2003, and in 2022 Turkmenistan's Galkynysh order and the badge of the Russian Foreign Ministry for contribution to international cooperation. He holds the diplomatic rank of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary.