Tatarstan President meets with Iran's Information and Communications Technology Minister Mahmoud Vaezi

On April 19, during his working visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov had a meeting with Iran's Information and Communications Technology Minister, Co-chairman of the Permanent Russian-Iranian Commission on Trade-and-Economic Cooperation Mahmoud Vaezi.

Multifaceted ties between Russia and Iran are actively developing, Minnikhanov noted. According to him, common commitment to the international law, as well as the identity of positions on a number of key topics of the global and regional agenda underlies the relations.

"Being the Co-chairman of the Permanent Russian-Iranian Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation you know well about the Russian industrial and investment potential," Minnikhanov said.

He stressed that Tatarstan actively promotes the development of Russian-Iranian cooperation at the regional level. In 2016, the total volume of foreign trade turnover between Tatarstan and Iran amounted to 13.3 million US dollars, which is 1.6 times more than in 2015, he said.

"Tatarstan pays special attention to innovative development. In 2015, the first stage of the IT city of Innopolis was opened in the republic. There is a university and a special economic zone of the same name their. Much work is being done in the sphere of nano- and biotechnology, the production of composite materials, robotics, artificial intelligence. Foreign companies are taking part in a number of projects,” Tatarstan President went on to say.

Minnikhanov added that Tatarstan is Russia's leader in the development of information and communication technologies. Since the end of last year, the programme of start-up projects of the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has been functioning in the republic. He invited Iranian start-up projects, technology mentors, IT experts and investors from Iran to participate in this programme.

In his turn Mahmoud Vaezi appreciated the activities of Tatarstan in strengthening inter-regional ties with Iran, and expressed his hope for further mutually beneficial cooperation.