Tatarstan President meets Chief Minister of Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif in Pakistan

On March 18, during his working visit to Lahore (Pakistan), Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov had a meeting with Chief Minister of Punjab Province Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif.

Welcoming the guests, Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif noted that in Punjab Tatarstan is known as an economically strong region of Russia with a developed industrial sector. He reminded that in 1999 during his visit to Russia, he visited Kazan.

He said that Punjab is one of the leading provinces of Pakistan. Extraction of minerals, including coal, salt, dolomite, gypsum, sand and diversified agriculture employing about 70 per cent of the population are well developed in the province.

"Today, we need to intensify our cooperation under agreements reached between our countries. There is a great potential in such areas as IT, tourism, agribusiness, training issues, sports and much more. It is important to unite our efforts in countering international terrorism,” he told Tatarstan President.

According to Minnikhanov, Tatarstan and Punjab have all the opportunities for fruitful cooperation and the current high level of relations between leaders of Russia and Pakistan contributes to that.

Minnikhanov stressed that good relations between the countries should be enhanced at the interregional level. Tatarstan and Punjab can contribute greatly to this matter. "This can be mutual supply of products and various technologies, work in the field of educational programmes, cultural exchange," he said.

Summing up, Tatarstan President suggested setting up a joint working group for more effective cooperation on specific projects.