Rustam Minnikhanov holds meeting with Governor of Punjab Province Rafique Rajwana

On March 18, during his working visit to Lahore (Pakistan), Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov held a meeting with Governor of Punjab Province Rafique Rajwana.

Minister of Industry and Trade of Tatarstan Albert Karimov, CEO of Tatarstan Investment Development Agency Taliya Minnulina, Board Chairman of Tatarstan Chamber of Commerce and Trade Shamil Ageyev and representatives of leading industrial enterprises of the republic took part in the meeting.

Minnikhanov thanked the governor for the invitation to visit Punjab and the high level of organization of a visit of the Tatarstan delegation.

He noted that he had a number of meetings with representatives of business community of Pakistan. "Our talks were held in a warm, friendly atmosphere. People are willing to cooperate and are ready to discuss specific projects," Minnikhanov said. "We have great opportunities for cooperation, but we are not using them to their potential," he added.

Minnikhanov said that he is sure that there are all conditions to improve this situation. He stressed that leaders of Russia and Pakistan pay special attention to development of regional cooperation.

He emphasized that Tatarstan is making major efforts to attract foreign investors, and is ready to become a bridge for the business community of Pakistan to enter the huge Russian market.

Minnikhanov invited Governor of Punjab to visit Tatarstan, in particular, to take part in the annual International Economic Summit "Russia-Islamic World: KazanSummit" (May 18-20).

In his turn, Rafique Rajwana expressed his confidence that the current visit of the Tatarstan delegation to Lahore will become a serious step in strengthening cooperation between the two regions.

"Issues related to the economy and increasing the trade turnover are important, but joint humanitarian projects should be given equal attention. The most promising of them is interaction in the educational sphere. More than 60 per cent of Punjab residents are young people. The exchange of students would become an important part of the relationship between our universities," the Governor said.

Rustam Minnikhanov supported the proposal and gave an errand to his assistants to look into this matter.