Rustam Minnikhanov: Tatarstan attaches great importance to the development of cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

18.03.2017

On March 18, during his working visit to Lahore (Pakistan), Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov took part in Tatarstan-Pakistan business forum.

According to Minnikhanov, Tatarstan attaches great importance to the development of cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Pakistan as part of Russia-Pakistan relations.

"Governments and business community of our countries are making efforts to expand cooperation in various fields. For our part we are ready to be actively involved in these processes at the regional level,” Minnikhanov said.

He said that Tatarstan is one of the leading and industrially developed regions of Russia. Annually it produces 35 million tonnes of oil, half of which is processed at two local plants. The republic has developed petrochemical industry, automobile manufacturing, aircraft industry, helicopter construction, shipbuilding. Tatarstan exports over 50 per cent of its manufactured goods.

"It is important to establish interaction between our universities and research centers. We are working on the development of nano- and biotechnology, production of composite materials, robotics,” Tatarstan President continued.

Minnikhanov said that Tatarstan will implement such large-scale investment projects as the Europe-Western China International Motor Road Corridor, the Sviyazhsk Interregional Multimodal Logistics Center and the Moscow-Kazan High-Speed Railway in the near future.

"As for solving the task of increasing the volume of foreign trade turnover, we are interested in delivering KAMAZ trucks, helicopters, cargo and passenger vessels, petrochemical products, mineral fertilizers, oil and gas production equipment, gas turbine and gas pumping plants and compressors, refrigeration equipment, foodstuffs and agricultural goods, medical and pharmaceutical products to your country. A number of our enterprises solve the tasks of the defense complex,” he added.

According to him, cooperation in the sphere of culture, tourism, science and education is of great interest. "Kazan is one of the leading Russian scientific and educational centers. We will be glad to increase the number of Pakistani students in our universities. There are opportunities for establishing ties in the field of sports," Minnikhanov added.

"We are actively developing our international and foreign economic cooperation and are ready to expand cooperation with business representatives of Punjab and Pakistan. This summer, we are looking forward to seeing a delegation from Punjab in Tatarstan to discuss specific projects,” Minnikhanov summed up.

CEO of Tatarstan Investment Development Agency Taliya Minullina told in more details about the investment potential of Tatarstan.

At the end of the forum, cooperation agreements were signed between the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Tatarstan and Lahore, as well as between the Kazan technopark in the sphere of high technologies "IT Park" and the Arfa Software Technology Park. 


Tatarstan President's Press Office, Bulat Nizameev