Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Tunisia to Russia Khemaies Jinaoui met at the Kazan Kremlin to discuss issues pertaining to economic and humanitarian cooperation between Tatarstan and Tunisia on October 5.

The Tunisian Ambassador told journalists after the meeting Tunisia intended to actively develop cooperation with Tatarstan. “We are ready to cooperate in all areas,” he said. Tourism, trade and investments are the most appealing areas, he added. Tunisia is a tourist country, visited annually by about 7.5 million tourists, including 180 thousand from Russia. “We would like to increase the tourist flow from Tatarstan,” the guest remarked.

Khemaies Jinaoui is on a working visit to Tatarstan, during which he has visited some local ministries, the Tatarstan Commerce and Industry Chamber, Kazan (Volga) Federal University and Tatar State Humanities and Pedagogics University. Today he plans to visit the Russian Islamic Institute. The meeting discussed cooperation in the field of education, possibility for Tunisian students to study at Tatarstan higher schools and for Tatarstan students to take internships at Tunisia. The guest proposed designating some Tatarstan higher educational institutions as twin ones with higher schools in Tunisia.

Tunisia spends about 30 percent of its GDP on the education sector, the Tatarstan President Department of Foreign Relations director Timur Akulov enhanced. He said cooperation with Tunisia could be interesting for small and medium businesses in Tatarstan, particularly, in the light and food industries. “Our interests are in developing large production facilities. Besides, Tunisia, with its historical monuments, is attractive for tourists from Tatarstan,” he said. International student exchange is planned to be developed in the future as well.

The bilateral trade between Tatarstan and Tunisia in 2009 totalled $2,786.3 thousand. The Republic of Tunisia in 2009 ranked 65th among the Tatarstan’s trading partners. In the first half of 2010, the bilateral trade between the parties totalled $64.1 thousand. The shares of export and import were 14.7 and 85.3 percent respectively.