Rustam Minnikhanov meets with representatives of Nice city administration

On June 25, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov met with Vice-President of the Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis, Deputy Mayor of Nice in charge of Economy and Industry Christian Tordo and Director General for Economy, Innovations and Communications of the Nice Côte d'Azur Metropolis Didier Wisselmann in Nice.

Rustam Minnikhanov thanked the leadership of Nice for inviting him to take part in the international conference "InnovativeCity 2014»

The issue of creating "smart cities" is topical for everyone today, Rustam Minnikhanov said. The creation of a new type of cities is particularly interesting for Tatarstan, since two new projects, the "Innopolis" innovative city and "Smart City Kazan" will be implemented in the republic. Your experience in this area is important to us, Rustam Minnikhanov continued.

Tatarstan President reminded that the agreement on cooperation with the Provence-Cote d'Azur region was signed a year ago. Rustam Minnikhanov is sure that there is a huge possibility of such cooperation. Today, Nice is not only an international resort, but also an important partner to exchange the experience in creating innovative cities. We can find a lot of areas of common interest, he said.

Rustam Minnikhanov also said that he chairs the Association of Innovative Regions of Russia (AIRR), and each region has its own findings and may be of interest in the framework of interregional cooperation, including such areas as transport infrastructure, informatization, power engineering, etc.

Tatarstan as one of the Russia regions has great experience in doing business with foreign companies and our republic can become a launching platform for French companies to enter the Russian market, Rustam Minnikhanov said.

Christian Tordo noted that entering the Russian markets is an important activity of the regional administration, particularly within the framework of creation of "smart cities." We are also interested in establishing strong long-term contacts and are willing to support projects, implemented in Tatarstan, he said.