KUALA LUMPUR, May 10. /Dunyo IA/. Madinabonu Abdullaeva, a 20-year-old student at the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies, has emerged as the winner of the Prime Minister of Malaysia’s International Malay Language Oratory Competition (PABM), reports Dunyo IA correspondent for the Dunyo Information Agency.

This year’s prestigious international competition featured 174 contestants from 21 countries. The contest was held in several stages, and following the results of the first and second qualifying rounds, the 50 strongest participants advanced to the finals, including our compatriot Madinabonu Abdullaeva.

Based on the results of the decisive stage, Madinabonu outperformed all her rivals and secured a prestigious first place. The second and third places were taken by representatives from Russia and China.

At the grand award ceremony held at the Malaysia Tourism Centre (MaTiC) in Kuala Lumpur, the winner was presented with the tournament trophy, a cash prize of 10,000 Malaysian ringgits (approximately 25–30 million sums) and an international certificate.

This achievement by Madinabonu Abdullaeva is of great significance for Uzbekistan and has made history as the fourth victory for representatives of our country in this international competition.

It should be noted that in recent years, on the initiative of the Head of State, special attention has been paid in Uzbekistan to the study of the cultures and languages of Southeast Asian countries, particularly the Malay and Indonesian languages. The training of highly qualified specialists in this field has become one of the key priorities of state policy.

Currently, the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies hosts the Higher School of South Asian Languages and Literature, where the Malay and Indonesian languages are taught on a permanent basis. Furthermore, instruction in these languages is also organized at the Uzbekistan State University of World Languages, Bukhara State University and the “Silk Road” International University of Tourism and Cultural Heritage in Samarkand.

The expansion of ties in the tourism sector, particularly the surge in pilgrimage tourism from Malaysia and Indonesia, further intensifies the demand for specialists in this field. In response, six-month intensive courses in the Malay and Indonesian languages have been organized for the tourism, hospitality and translation sectors.

Moving forward, there are plans to extend this experience to other regions of the country, specifically the Khorezm and Surkhandarya regions, and to ensure this practice becomes systematic and permanent.