R.Minnikhanov meets with WEF global leadership fellows programme participants

President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov has today met with the World Economic Forum’s global leadership programme participants, to discuss issues related to Tatarstan’s economic, political and social development. The meeting took place at the House of Government, the President of Tatarstan’s press service reports.

The global leadership fellows programme participants are visitng Tatarstan as part of a trip to Russia. They have toured some industrial facilities in Naberezhnye Chelny, Nizhnekamsk and the SEZ Alabuga. They plan to visit the IT Park, Universiade Village and sports venues. The group is led by the WEF leadership and academia office chief Professor Gilbert Probst.

The Young Global Leaders Forum includes over 750 young leaders representing various regions of the world, business branches, government, civil society, art, culture, academia and mass media. Set up as an independent non-profit fund patronised by the Swiss government, the Young Leaders Forum operates in close cooperation with the World Economic Forum in Davos. Young global leaders take part in virtually all sessions, academic research and WEF initiatives.

Opening the meeting, R. Minnikhanov said to the guests “We are pleased to meet with you here, and hear out your opinions about our development, our moves”.

President of Tatarstan briefed the visitors on the Tatarstan’s economic condition, saying oil recovery was the local economy’s foundation. The annual oil production will for another 20 years remain at 30 million tonnes, he said.

Petrochemistry is the main prospective point of growth, the president went on, primarily the petrochemical complex in Nizhnekamsk. Processing the produced polymers should be a foundation for small and medium enterprise.

Tatarstan, just as Russia in general, has an insufficient middle class, R. Minnikhanov admitted. “We need to teach people to be independent, build a stratum of entrepreneurs constituting a middle class,” he is convinced.

The group’s leader Gilbert Probst thanked President of Tatarstan for the invitation to visit the republic. According to the professor, the guests had been impressed with what they had seen in Tatarstan.

The delegates asked R. Minnikhanov quite a few questions on various subjects. In particular, they inquired how Tatarstan’s authorities kept talented young people in Tatarstan. The President said there was no way to do that by force. “Our task is to provide convenient conditions for working and living.”

A guest from China asked about Tatarstan’s experience in privatisation. R. Minnikhanov said many assets had during the 1990es privatisation been sold at meagre prices, but the outcomes should not be revised. Tatarstan managed to secure privileged terms of privatisation and retain large state stakes in the republic’s main industrial manufacturing facilities, he noted.

Russia should join the WTO, President of Tatarstan thinks. Although there are pluses and minuses to it, integration with the global community is necessary. “The WTO accession will make us redirect ourselves in many aspects. But if we do not do that, things will go worse,” Tatarstan’s chief executive is convinced.

In conclusion, Gilbert Probst thanked President of Tatarstan for the informative meeting. “I was pleased to hear it is not solely oil and larger manufacturers that you live by but that you support small and medium business and are eager to build a middle class as well,” Professor told R. Minnikhanov.