Tatarstan President meets Chairman of the Senate of Kazakhstan

On September 19, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, who arrived in Astana earlier today to take part in days of culture of the Republic of Tatarstan in Kazakhstan, met Chairman of the Senate of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and members of the Senate.

"I wanted to see you in Astana, as the President of the Republic that is a partner of Kazakhstan in a number of areas. You know that a lot of Tatar cultural figures and scientists live in Kazakhstan. We have much in common, whether it is the language, culture or mentality, and we very much appreciate our relationship with Tatarstan, which is an important part of the Russian Federation," Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said, greeting Tatarstan President.

"I remember with pleasure our meeting in Ashgabat; your speech was very interesting. I am glad that Tatarstan is successfully developing, showing high performance in the industrial and agricultural sectors as well as in the areas of science, sports, and innovation," Tokayev said.

Tokayev briefed about the structure of the Kazakhstan Parliament and the development of inter-parliamentary cooperation.

Rustam Minnikhanov, in his turn, noted a high level of relationship between Russia and Kazakhstan and encouraged active work of compatriots in the Kazakhstan Parliament.

Tatarstan President highly estimated Kazakhstan projects aimed at developing industrial parks. "It is very important to integrate our business, not only in terms of mutual deliveries, but also in such a manner as to represent Tatarstan businesses in Kazakhstan. Currently, Turkish companies are building six plants in our Alabuga Special Economic Zone, with investments making 1.5 billion US dollars. Kazakhstan is the largest producer of hydrocarbons and we should think of joint projects in this area,” Minnikhanov said.

Summing up, Rustam Minnikhanov thanked Tokayev and members of the Parliament for their warm welcome and invited them to make a return visit to Tatarstan.