Tatarstan President meets Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey

On October 16, during his working visit to Izmir (Turkey), Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov met Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of the Turkish Republic Bekir Pakdemirli.

During the meeting, Tatarstan President noted that Turkish companies have invested about 2 billion US dollars in the republic. “We are interested in your business to further develop its projects in our republic, and we will provide all-round support to Turkish companies,” Minnikhanov said.

Tatarstan President told the Minister about the development of the agro-industrial complex of Tatarstan. He said that the republic is among the five best regions of Russia, particularly with regard to the dairy farming. “The issues of the agro-industrial complex are not only the issue of agricultural production, but also the preservation of the rural way of life. This is very important in an urbanizing world. Therefore, we regard the village not just as the production of agricultural products, but as an opportunity to keep people in the rural areas, to preserve our traditions,” he noted.

“Tatarstan occupies a special place in our heart,” Pakdemirli noted in his welcoming speech.

At the end of 2019, the trade turnover between Tatarstan and Turkey increased by one and a half times and exceeded 480 million US dollars. The Turkish Minister drew attention to the fact that through joint efforts the parties should bring the volume of mutual trade to 1 billion US dollars. “Thank you for the conditions you have created for Turkish investors in Tatarstan, paying them a lot of your personal attention,” he said.

Pakdemirli noted the importance of working out a wider range of products supplied to Tatarstan.

Also, the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Turkey invited Tatarstan to join the social campaign on planting trees, which is underway in Turkey. The goal is to plant 83 million seedlings. Minnikhanov noted that Tatarstan will definitely join this campaign.

Tatarstan President said that the republic is interested in cooperation with Turkey in the agricultural and forestry sectors and invited a delegation of Turkey to visit Tatarstan to work out joint projects.