Rustam Minnikhanov: It is necessary to develop cooperation in exchange of best practices in youth policy

On 23 August the Rais (Head) of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov accompanied by the regional Minister for Youth Affairs Rinat Sadykov had a meeting with heads of departments for youth and sports from such countries as Libya, Mozambique, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Algeria, Burkina-Faso and others, who are taking part in the Kazan Global Youth Summit held in the Kazan City Hall and organized by the Government and the Ministry for Youth Affairs of the republic and the ICYF.

Opening the meeting, Rustam Minnikhanov said: ”It is my pleasure to welcome you at the Third Kazan Global Youth Summit. It is a great honor for us to host this large-scale international event. It has become a good tradition that heads of Ministries for Youth Affairs and Sports from the OIC countries  are coming to the capital of Tatarstan,” and added that representatives of BRICS countries have joined the Summit this year.

The Rais of the republic emphasized that Russia attaches great attention to issues of raising children and creating equal opportunities for self-implementation of young people. “This is the basis of systemic and sustainable development of Russia and Tatarstan in particular,” he said.

He informed participants of the meeting about the youth infrastructure in the republic, the network of children’s camps, youth and teenagers’ clubs and the development of the city environment and pogrammes for supporting rural youth, young families and scientists.

Rustam Minnikhanov informed about the Movement of the First being developed in Russia under the patronage of the President Vladimir Putin and said that the task of the movement is to unite various children’s and youth organizations into one system with the aim of shaping one upbringing environment. 

“We are interested in the development of the academic mobility programmes with the OIC and BRICS countries and today there are more than 22 thousand foreign students studying at universities of the republic,” he said. 

The Rais of Tatarstan emphasized that the development of sports and physical training is also the point of attention and listed big international sport and political events, such as the FINA Championship and FIFA Cup hosted in Kazan. He informed about preparations to the Youth Islamic Games to be held in Kazan next year and added: “We are waiting for athletes from your countries to take part in this event.”

Having mentioned large scale youth events held in Russia recently, Rustam Minnikhanov called for further development of cooperation in issues of children’s and youth exchanges, sharing best practices in youth policy which will help young people to get acquainted with the culture of their countries and develop joint projects. “This will facilitate the global sustainability. I am sure today we have all conditions necessary for ramping up our further interaction both in economics and culture, sports, youth policy and education based on out common traditional values. Tatarstan and Russia are interested in this and always open for cooperation,” he concluded.