Foreign relations of the Republic of Tatarstan

International and interregional cooperation of Tatarstan is implemented in close cooperation with federal authorities under a single foreign policy of the Russian Federation.

Tatarstan economy is integrated into the world economy. About half of the industrial output of the republic is exported.

In 2019, the foreign trade turnover of Tatarstan amounted to over 15.5 billion US dollars.

Since 2010, Tatarstan has attracted 11.4 billion US dollars of foreign investment. In 2019, the volume of foreign investment amounted to 1.7 billion US dollars, including about 76 per cent of direct investment. For three years in the row, the republic ranked first in the National Rating of the Investment Climate of the Russian regions. In 2019, Tatarstan ranked second.

Investment cooperation is successfully implemented at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which rightfully has the status of the largest special economic zone of the industrial-production type of Russia. As of the beginning of 2020, as many as 57 residents are operating at the Alabuga SEZ and there are 33 industrial enterprises.

There is an increasing interest in the Innopolis project, which is the second SEZ in Tatarstan, an IT centre of Russian scale and a new high-tech city. By the beginning of 2020, over 100 resident companies and partners were operating at the Innopolis SEZ.

The republic takes part in Eurasian integration processes, develops strategic partnership with the CIS countries, BRICS and SCO.

Kazan has become the venue for major international events. Tatarstan hosts the main venue for economic cooperation between the Russian Federation and the countries of the Islamic world - the International Economic Summit of Russia and OIC countries - KazanSummit.

In the eastern direction, Tatarstan strengthens its long lasting relations with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

In 2015, on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russia – Islamic World Strategic Vision Group, headed by Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, resumed the work aimed at joining the efforts of various countries and public institutions to counter the growing threats of international security based on the distortion of the basic tenets of Islam, the expansion of economic, cultural, educational cooperation between Russia and the Islamic world and interaction at the level of youth organizations.

Under the Group’s action plan, dozens of public, scientific, religious forums and events are held annually in the Russian Federation and abroad.

Tatarstan has gained a wealth of experience in organizing sports events of an international level. In 2013, the 27th World Summer Universiade with the participation of 12,000 representatives from 160 countries was held in Kazan. Due to the World Student Games, the infrastructure for the development of professional sports and the organization of the high-level competitions in many sports was established in the republic.

The 16th FINA World Championships 2015 was the most significant international event for Tatarstan, attended by about 2.600 athletes from 190 countries, and with a television audience of 6.8 billion people.

In 2017, the FIFA Confederations Cup matches were held in Kazan. In 2018, the capital of Tatarstan hosted 6 matches of the FIFA World Cup. The 45th WorldSkills Competition was held in Kazan in 2019.

In the last decade, large-scale work on the revival of the ancient city of Bolgar and the island - town of Sviyazhsk, and the reconstruction of the historical centre of the capital of Tatarstan has been done. The Kazan Kremlin and the Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex were inscribed into the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000 and on June 2014, respectively. On July 2017, the third nomination from Tatarstan, the Assumption Cathedral and Monastery of the island-town of Sviyazhsk were inscribed into the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The developing hospitality industry contributes to the development of inbound tourism. About 3.6 million tourists visited Tatarstan in 2019.

In the field of interregional relations, Tatarstan develops cooperation with all constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The top ten leading trade and economic partners of the republic include the Leningrad Region, Moscow, the Moscow, Samara, Chelyabinsk Regions, the Republic of Bashkortostan, the city of St. Petersburg, the Sverdlovsk, Nizhny Novgorod Regions, Perm Territory. The annual interregional trade turnover with the Russian regions makes about 500 billion roubles. Increasing trade and economic cooperation with the Russian regions has become an important trend recently. Tatarstan has concluded agreements on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation with 76 constituent entities of Russia.

In close cooperation with the Russian Foreign Ministry, Tatarstan interacts with compatriots living abroad, which has become one of the most important areas of the external relations of the republic. Interaction with compatriots living abroad and Tatar communities living in the Russian regions is one of the most important areas in the development of external relations. Large-scale projects are underway to support the national culture and language In Tatarstan. Interaction with various target groups of compatriots, including business circles, youth, scientists and others, is organized. In 2019, 79 events to celebrate Sabantuy were held in 28 countries with the support of Tatarstan.

The representative offices of the republic, 14 of which are foreign representative offices and 8 offices located in the Russian regions, provide significant assistance in the development of external relations of Tatarstan.

Diplomatic and consular offices located in Tatarstan contribute to the development of international relations. They include consulates general of the Republic of Turkey, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan, Hungary, the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Uzbekistan, and the Branch of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus in the Russian Federation in Kazan. At the end of 2019, the Government of the Russian Federation made a decision to open the Consulate General of Turkmenistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Kazan.

The tasks for the further development of the external relations of the republic are set in the Development Strategy of Tatarstan until 2030.

The section is supported by the Department for Foreign Affairs of the Rais (Head) of the Republic of Tatarstan.

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