Rustam Minnikhanov met with the Governor of Golestan Province of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mr. Ali Mohammad Zanganeh
President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov met with the Governor of Golestan Province of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mr. Ali Mohammad Zanganeh today. The meeting was held in the Kazan Kremlin. It was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan, Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan Marat Zyabbarov.
Welcoming the guests, Rustam Minnikhanov stressed that Tatarstan highly appreciates cooperation with Iran within the framework of Russian-Iranian relations. “Tatarstan and Iran have historical, economic and cultural ties, a great experience of cooperation has been accumulated,” the President of Tatarstan said.
He noted that mutual visits of delegations are carried out between Tatarstan and Iran, and strong partnership relations are being built. In 2018, Kazan was visited by Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, who was elected President of Iran last year.
The development of relations is facilitated by the long-term work of the Iranian Consulate General in Kazan, the memorandum on trade cooperation, as well as the active interaction of Tatarstan with the Iranian provinces. Rustam Minnikhanov noted that before the pandemic, there were direct Tehran-Kazan flights. Over the years, a number of Tatarstan companies have implemented their projects in Iran, including KAMAZ, Tatneft, Kazan Helicopter Plant.
Rustam Minnikhanov announced the need to search for new forms and mechanisms for cooperation. So, in June, a comission from Tatarstan visited Tehran.
A single religion, as well as historical and cultural traditions, help to better understand partners from Iran and conduct business. Rustam Minnikhanov said that this year the republic is widely celebrating the 1100th anniversary of the adoption of Islam by the Volga Bulgaria. Representatives of Iran also took part in the celebrations in May. In particular, Iranian companies participated in the Halal Expo exhibition. In addition, an exhibition of Iranian art has been launched in the Kazan Kremlin.
Cooperation in the field of science and education is developing. A number of universities in Tatarstan and Iran have contractual ties, 765 Iranian students study in the republic.
Further, Rustam Minnikhanov briefly spoke about the economic and investment potential of the Republic of Tatarstan, the main industries and the existing infrastructure for the development of business projects.
“Golestan province is of great interest to us. I hope that today's meeting will give our ties a good impetus. First of all, this is the development of our contacts in the agro-industrial sector, petrochemistry, mechanical engineering, and health care. The issues of transport logistics are very important. Through the Volga and the Caspian Sea, you are geographically in a convenient position. I think that we should carefully study all these opportunities,” the President of the Republic of Tatarstan added.
The governor of Golestan province thanked the leadership of the republic for the high level of organization of the visit to Tatarstan.
He stressed that Tatarstan and the province of Golestan have good prospects for cooperation. The development of interregional ties between Russia and Iran is fully supported by the leaders of both states.
According to Ali Mohammad Zanganeh, Golestan is interested in mutually beneficial trade relations with Tatarstan. He supported Rustam Minnikhanov in terms of the need to develop transport corridors.