Rustam Minnikhanov takes part in a meeting of Vladimir Putin with Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim

On 17 June the Rais (Head) of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov took part in meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim, who came to Kazan to take part in the Russia-ASEAN Summit.

Speaking at the meeting, Vladimir Putin underlined that Malaysia is a long time and reliable partner of Russia in the Asia-Pacific region and interaction between them is built of principles of mutual respect and taking into account interests of each other.

Next year the countries will celebrate 60th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations, and the President of Russia said: “We approach this date with a wealth of positive experience in mutually beneficial cooperation and significant groundwork for its further expansion.  The political dialogue has noticeably intensified. In May last year we had a meeting with you during your official visit. In August, the Supreme Ruler of Malaysia, Sultan Ibrahim, made the first state visit to Russia in the history of bilateral relations. In this year he came to St Petersburg and quite recently in May he was in Moscow during celebrations of the 81st anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War (WW II). I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to convey my best wishes to him.”

He also noted that today there are regular contacts at the level of ministries and government departments as well as at the parliamentary level. The intergovernmental commission on economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation deals with issues of practical cooperation.

Last year the trade turnover between Russia and Malaysia grew by 12.9 per cent and the Russia President concluded: “This is a good result. We also attach great attention to joint work in the spheres of education, technologies and the development of tourism and humanitarian ties.”

In his turn Anwar Ibrahim thanked for the hospitality and a warm reception and said: “We are grateful to your whole delegation and the Rais of Tatarstan and his team”.

The Prime Minister noted that Russia-Malaysia cooperation is developing in many directions. ”The event “Russia – Islamic World” was recently held in Kuala Lumpur, a successful event that was marked by wide participation,” he said.

Anwar Ibrahim also expressed his interest in the development of air traffic between Malaysia and Russia. “We want to connect Malaysian cities with Russia, Kazan and other Russian cities. I think that you will provide this with great support and will facilitate and speed up this process,” he said to the President of Russia.