Rustam Minnikhanov invites Prime Minister of Bahrain Khalifa Al Khalifa to take part in KazanSummit

On February 21, during his working visit to Bahrain, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov took part in a meeting between Russia Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov and Prime Minister of the country Khalifa Al Khalifa.

Welcoming the Prime Minister, Manturov noted that today the first meeting of the Russian-Bahrain intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technological cooperation will be held. "This is an important event in terms of the strengthening of our cooperation,” he said.

The Minister noted steady development of Russian-Bahrain relations. Among the promising areas of cooperation he called gas production, metallurgy, pharmaceuticals and tourism.

Besides, Russia is interested in developing investment cooperation, he continued. "We have established constructive relations with a number of Bahraini companies. We hope that our further proposals in the field of various branches of industry will be in demand in Bahrain," Manturov said.

Russia actively supports the development of cooperation with the Gulf countries at the interregional level. According to the Minister, Tatarstan as one of Russian leading regions has achieved great success in this regard.

In his turn Minnikhanov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin's strategy envisages closer cooperation with the Islamic world. Today there are more than 20 million Muslims in Russia. "To strengthen cooperation with Islamic countries the “Russia-Islamic World” Group of Strategic Vision was established, which according to Russian President's order is headed by me,” he said and added that this year's meeting of the group will be held in the city of Grozny.

Also, Minnikhanov invited the Prime Minister of Bahrain to take part in the International Summit of Islamic Business and Finance «KazanSummit». Khalifa Al Khalifa thanked him for the invitation and said that he will send a representative delegation to the capital of Tatarstan.

Tatarstan President also told the Prime Minister about a major project, being implemented in the republic - the construction of the Bolgar Islamic Academy. "We need to establish the right system of Islamic education," Minnikhanov said.

In his turn, Khalifa Al Khalifa stressed that Russia's relations with the Gulf countries, including Bahrain, have improved significantly. "We want to intensify the exchange of delegations. Russia has much to offer to the countries of our region. We need to pay greater attention to these issues,” he said.