Rustam Minnikhanov meets young diplomats from the OIC countries at the KazanForum

On 15 May, speaking at his meeting at the VIII Forum of Young Diplomats from the OIC countries held as a part of the XV KazanForum , the Rais (Head) of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov said: “We can see a great potential in the development of youth diplomacy and contacts among young employees of diplomatic bodies.” During eight years of its history the Forum had more than 250 representatives from 40 countries and in the last two years Kazan also hosted the Global Forum of Young Diplomats held with participation of more than 300 people.

In the beginning of the meeting its participants listened to the video greeting from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then the Chairman of the Academy of Youth Diplomacy Dilbar Sadykova told about the work of the Forum, public diplomacy projects and events held by the Kazan Diplomatic Club.

The main topic of the meeting was the diplomacy of the new multi-polar world and speaking at the meeting, Rustam Minnikhanov expressed his gratitude to Sergey Lavrov, the Chairman of the Council of Young Diplomats Konstantin Kolpakov and to the whole Russia Foreign Ministry for the support given to young diplomats in their efforts.

He said that it is young diplomats who will also develop this world, and that is why it is especially important to solve many difficult issues with the help of diplomacy.
“Strengthening of youth international cooperation is extremely important for us as we can see its great potential,” he said and stated that currently Russia and Tatarstan fruitfully interact with Islamic countries in various formats and spheres.
The Rais of Tatarstan informed about his taking part in the 15th Summit of heads and governments of the OIC countries in Gambia and said: “We can see big interest of the Islamic world to Russia and a substantial potential for expanding our cooperation.” “We have not covered all OIC countries yet but I think that in the current world situation there are new opportunities for economic cooperation which we should use more actively. And you – young diplomats – can become a kind of conductors between Russia and your countries and attract representatives of business, culture and sports,” he concluded and wished young diplomats fruitful work, new achievements and interesting discussions.
In their turn participants of the Forum shared their proposals on development of youth diplomacy and strengthening the existing contacts.