 He shrugs and says they choose not to. I'm offered a lift in his brand new SUV back into town. I'm struck by the wealth disparity between Bibi Khan and the factory owner. Still, at least silk is being increasingly manufactured in Uzbekistan itself, rather than being exported as a raw material to Turkey or China. And given that Uzbekistan has a higher ratio of people tending silkworms than any other country, it seems fitting that it is situated at the very heart of the ancient silk trading routes.