BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 24. Head of Russia's Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov exclusively told Trend he thanks the leadership of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and in particular, President Ilham Aliyev who has always been attentive to the development of relations between Tatarstan and Azerbaijan, aimed at strengthening relations between Russia and Azerbaijan.
"The established good traditions of long-year productive Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation have become a solid basis for interaction between our countries. In these difficult times, we have maintained an effective trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian partnership. Tatarstan is one of the leaders in the national rating of Russia's investment climate," Minnikhanov noted. "Particular attention is paid to innovative development. On the territory of Tatarstan, there are two special economic zones - Alabuga and Innopolis, as well as five territories of advanced socio-economic development. All of them provide different kinds of benefits."
According to him, companies, depending on their type of activity, choose the most attractive conditions for themselves and are placed on these sites.
"In order to simplify the work of investors as much as possible, the Investment Promotion Agency was established in Tatarstan. I'm sure that Azerbaijani companies can find their niche in the Tatarstan market," he said.
Minnikhanov pointed out that work is underway with Azerbaijan through the leading Tatar companies:
• KAMAZ supplies vehicles and spare parts for them:
- assembly of vehicles from assembly kits of parts is carried out by the Ganja Automobile Plant, which is also the official distributor of KAMAZ PJSC in the Azerbaijani market;
- there operates a joint venture Auto Leasing-Azerbaijan (Ganja Automobile Plant and KAMAZ), which opened a new service center near Jabrayil city;
- two certified service centers also operate in the cities of Baku and Ganja;
"In 2022, our trade turnover with Azerbaijan exceeded $125 million, exceeding the 2021 figure by almost 80 percent. We can and must continue to build up mutual trade and develop our contacts on various platforms. We export agricultural, pharmaceutical, paper products, wood and its derivatives to Azerbaijan. In turn, we import oil products, minerals, dairy and fruits and vegetables from Azerbaijan," the head of Tatarstan said. "We have every opportunity to enhance cooperation in energy and industry, automotive, helicopter and shipbuilding, petrochemistry, natural gas fuel, medicine, agriculture, informatization and logistics."
He reminded that Azerbaijan and Tatarstan are connected by the Volga River and the Caspian Sea.
"We should make more active use of the transport and logistics capabilities of the Volga-Caspian basin. I am convinced that by joint efforts we are able to expand the scope of our cooperation for the benefit of the development of relations between Russia and Azerbaijan," Minnikhanov said. "Our republics signed an Agreement on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation (dated 1996), which is a fundamental document in bilateral cooperation. On its basis, a Joint Intergovernmental Commission for Cooperation between Tatarstan and Azerbaijan was established. At the end of last year, during my visit to Baku, we agreed to intensify its activities. This year, we have already had the honor to receive at different times Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov and his first deputy."
According to the official, in April of this year, the 3rd regular meeting of the Azerbaijani-Tatar intergovernmental commission was held in Tatarstan, and a representative Azerbaijani delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev took part in KazanForum international economic forum.
Minnikhanov highly appreciated his recent visit to Azerbaijan.
"On June 17 and 18 of this year, we again visited the Republic of Azerbaijan with great joy, got acquainted with the activities of a number of economic regions, held productive official meetings, opened the Auto Leasing Azerbaijan service center, created with the participation of KAMAZ PJSC, and also took part in the Tatar national holiday Sabantuy on the Baku Boulevard," he stated. "I'm sincerely grateful to Ilham Aliyev for our personal meeting and the attention he always provides to cooperation between Tatarstan and Azerbaijan within the framework of Russian-Azerbaijani relations. Since 1992, the Representative Office of Tatarstan has been functioning in Azerbaijan, which is actively involved in the work and contributes to the intensification of bilateral contacts."
According to him, it's very important to expand humanitarian cooperation between Azerbaijan and Tatarstan.
"More than two hundred students from Azerbaijan study at Tatarstan universities. In the future, these graduates should become a kind of link, designed to build up our multilateral cooperation. Moreover, the National-Cultural Autonomy of Azerbaijanis operating in Tatarstan makes a huge contribution to the development of our relations. Direct flights from Kazan to Baku contribute to the growth of our interaction," Minnikhamov concluded.
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