Rustam Minnikhanov: We pay a lot of attention to development of cooperation with the Middle East and North Africa

On January 26, at Tatarstan Government House, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov had a meeting with representatives of business circles of the Republic of Tunisia.

"We pay a lot of attention to development cooperation with the Middle East and North Africa,” Minnikhanov said in his welcoming speech.

He noted that the Islamic world is very important to Russia. More than 20 million Muslims live in Russia. The Russia-Islamic World Strategic Vision Group, which is headed by Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, was created to strengthen long-term cooperation with Islamic states. Since 2009, the capital of Tatarstan has hosted the International Summit of Islamic Business and Finance «KazanSummit».

"Tatarstan and Tunisia have positive relationship. Your Ambassador to Russia has visited Kazan many times. However, we would like to intensify our work and look into specific forms of business cooperation. It is clear that the situation in the Middle East is challenging, but the solution will be found," Tatarstan President said.

Minnikhanov said that Tatarstan is one of the leading industrial regions of Russia. The republic is actively developing machine building, oil refining and petrochemistry, IT technology and other sectors. More than 50 per cent of products are exported.

Among the most promising areas of cooperation, Minnikhanov mentioned such fields as pharmaceutical industry, sales of KAMAZ vehicles in Tunisia, development of relations in the sphere of tourism, humanitarian contacts, and others.