Tatarstan President takes part in the Russian Islamic Economic Forum "Russia - Guarantor of Partnership" in Ufa

On November 29, in Ufa, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov took part in the Russia - Guarantor of Partnership Russian Islamic Economic Forum, which was organized and supported by Sberbank, the Government of the Republic of Bashkortostan and the International Association of Islamic Business.

The forum was held as part of the fifth meeting of the Strategic Vision Group “Russia - the Islamic World” and is aimed at determining the business goals of the community of Russian entrepreneurs regarding cooperation with the countries of North Africa and the Middle East.

A presentation of partner financing products in accordance with the norms and requirements of Islamic banking was held at the forum.

Leaders and representatives of various regions, representatives of the legislative and executive authorities of Russia, Russian business entities, large independent and municipal investment sites, financial experts and independent investors took part in the event.

The Autonomous Non-profit Organization for the preparation and implementation of measures for the development of interethnic and international cooperation of the Congress Bureau of the Republic of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan Investment Development Agency signed a cooperation agreement at the forum.

Tatarstan President, Chairman of the Russia-Islamic World Strategic Vision Group Minnikhanov, Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov and Deputy Board Chairman of Sberbank Oleg Ganeev addressed the forum with their welcoming speeches.

Opening the forum,  Minnikhanov expressed his gratitude to the senior executives of Sberbank of Russia for supporting the initiatives and the productive work of Sberbank in partner banking.

During his speech, Minnikhanov noted that Islamic financial mechanisms require compliance with certain ethical standards in the implementation of transactions, and for this reason suggested developing a single standard that meets the requirements of the Islamic ecosystem with their subsequent implementation in Rosstandart (Federal Agency on Technical Regulating and Metrology), and working out the proposal on the establishment of certification centres at the regional representative offices of Rosstandrat.

“The Russian Federation is an observer in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. Perhaps, it is worth considering a project of establishing the Federal Partnership Bank of Russia to meet the demand for Islamic finance products and services in the Russian regions,” Minnikhanov addressed representatives of the business community and recommended that this topic be discussed.

At the end of his speech, Tatarstan President expressed his confidence that proposals that would further promote Islamic financial mechanisms in Russia would be made during the forum.