Tatarstan President discusses prospects of foreign economic cooperation with Saudi Arabia

On February 7, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, Minister of Commerce and Investments of Saudi Arabia Mr. Majed Al-Kassabi and Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al Zayani discussed development of trade and economic relations between the Republic of Tatarstan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“Unfortunately, we do not know a lot about Russian regions, such as Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, and others. I am planning to visit these regions during my trip to Russia. Today Saudi Arabia expresses great interest in Russia at the country level. We are interested in agriculture, industry, civic life and military sphere,” Mr Al-Kassabi said.

“We will be glad to expand our economic and investment cooperation. There are good opportunities to cooperate in the sphere of agriculture and energy sector. We are interested in delivery of KAMAZ trucks, multiple winners of Paris-Dakar rally, helicopters, cargo-and-passenger vessels, petrochemical products, mineral fertilizers, oil and gas producing equipment, food and goods to your country,” Rustam Minnikhanov said in his turn.

Minnikhanov invited Saudi companies to participate in investment projects of the republic, one of the leading and industrially developed regions in Russia. According to the president, the following projects will be implemented in the republic in the nearest future, - InnoKam, Sviyazhsk interregional multi-modal logistics center, construction of high-speed railway “Moscow-Kazan”, and Western Europe-Western China International Transit Corridor. These projects will enhance opportunities for business and tourism development in the region.

Minnikhanov also presented KazanSummit as the main site of economic cooperation between Russia and Islamic countries, and invited the delegation of Saudi Arabia to KazanSummit – 2017 that will be held on May 18-20.