Rustam Minnikhanov: Tatarstan can be a liaison in expansion of cooperation between Russia and Indonesia

On April 9, during Russia-Indonesia business forum at Korston hotel (Kazan), Acting President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov said that being one of the main industrially developed regions in Russia, Tatarstan can be a liaison in expansion of cooperation between Russia and Indonesia.

Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, co-chairman of Russia-Indonesia joint commission for trade-economic and technical cooperation Sofyan Djalil, Tatarstan Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Industry and Trade Ravil Zaripov, took part in the forum.

The exhibition of Tatarstan achievements in the sphere of industry, information technologies, sport and tourism was organized in one of the halls. The Indonesian guests were told about development of industrial sector and major enterprises of the republic.

In his welcoming speech, Rustam Minnikhanov thanked leadership of Russia and Indonesia for their attention to development of regional cooperation within the framework of rapidly developing Russia-Indonesia relations. He noted that Indonesia is one of the most emerging economies in Southeast Asia and one of the most important trade partners of Russia.

Minnikhanov reminded that he visited Indonesia two years ago, held fruitful meetings at the Ministry of foreign affairs and Ministry of Industry, and took part in Tatarstan-Indonesia business forum.

“We have big opportunities for economic cooperation but we have not realized them yet. Main economic sectors in Tatarstan as well as in Indonesia are oil production and refining. We are interested in promoting produce of KAMAZ plant, Kazan helicopters plant, and Nizhnekamskshina in Indonesia,” Rustam Minnikhanov said.

Also, production of halal products and Islamic banking are interesting areas of cooperation, he said.

Speaking about the sphere of education, Rustam Minnikhanov noted that Russian top universities and research centers and located in Tatarstan, and Indonesian students are welcome to study there. Russian students can get Islamic education in Indonesia.

Rustam Minnikhanov invited Indonesian companies to take part in annual international economic forum Kazansummit (June 15-16, Kazan).
Denis Manturov, in his turn, said that Indonesia is one of the main partners of Russia in Asia-Pacific region and in the international arena in general. He also thanked leadership of the republic for organizing such a large-scale forum and noted that Tatarstan has gained confidence of the federal center in terms of organization of important international events.

Manturov reminded that Russian and Indonesian leadership set the task to increase trade turnover between the countries to 5 billion dollars. Under current geopolitical situation Russia will be increasing commodity flow from Asia-Pacific region.

According to Manturov, some Russian companies are already working in Indonesia. In Particular, OAO “Russian railways” is building a special railway for coal transportation on Kalimantan Island. A Russian company is going to build a bauxite-aluminous plant with the capacity of 1.8 million tonnes of raw materials per year in West Kalimantan. KAMAZ truck manufacturer is planning to set up assembly production and a service network in Indonesia.
Denis Manturov noted that all these projects will favour development of bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

Speaking at the forum, Sofyan Djalil said that they want Indonesia to become the place for Russia to enter markets of South-east Asia. He also expressed his wish to strengthen interbank and investment cooperation with Russia.