On May 6, at a briefing held at Tatarstan Government House, Tatarstan Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Industry and Trade Ravil Zaripov said that Turkmenistan is interested in establishing textile processing and production facilities in SEZ “Alabuga”.

To the point, the briefing was dedicated to the results of the visit of Tatarstan delegation led by Rustam Minnikhanov to Turkmenistan at the end of April 2014.

According to Ravil Zaripov, at his meeting with members of Tatarstan delegation, Turkmenistan Minister of Foreign Affairs Rashid Meredov made a corresponding proposal that was accepted by the Tatarstan side.

Ravil Zaripov also reminded that the meeting between Rustam Minnikhanov and Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, as well as business meetings with participation officials and representatives of enterprises of Tatarstan and Turkmenistan were held within the framework of the visit. In particular, the cooperation in power engineering and petrochemistry industries were discussed.

The Turkmen side was also interested in expanding cooperation with OAO “KAMAZ”, OAO “Tatneft”, OAO “Kazan Helicopter Plant”, OAO “Kazan Engineering Production Association” and OAO “Kazancompressormash”.

According to Ravil Zaripov, the possibility of setting up a Turkmenistan trading house in Kazan to promote Turkmen produce in Tatarstan was also touched upon during the visit. Moreover, Rustam Minnikhanov suggested establishing a Tatarstan-Turkmenistan working group on trade, economy, science, technology and cultural cooperation.

Ravil Zaripov reminded that the trade turnover between Tatarstan and Turkmenistan amounted to $42.4 million in 2013.