Within the framework of the 15th anniversary of Russia’s accession to the OIC as an observer state, the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation together with the Investment Development Agency of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Group of Strategic Vision “Russia – Islamic World” held the “International Cooperation between Regions of the Russian Federation and the OIC State Members” online conference within the unique intellectual business space “100% Tatarstan” on September 9.
The panel discussion was attended by Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the OIC Ramazan Abdulatipov, Deputy Chairman of the Group of Strategic Vision “Russia – Islamic World” Farit Mukhametshin, Deputy Chief Executive of the Investment Development Agency Marina Epifantseva, Director General of the Department for the Islamic Cooperation and the Development of the Private Sector of the Islamic Development Bank Ayman Sejiny, Director of the Department of Trade and Investment of the OIC Nagi Jabbarov, Secretary General of the Standards and Metrology Institute for the Islamic Countries (SMIIC) Ihsan Hovut, Permanent Representatives of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Turkey to the OIC.
It is noteworthy that the event became the first of its kind online meeting of representatives of Russian regions and international organizations, which raised practical issues of regional cooperation in trade, economic and investment areas in the new reality. The discussion was moderated by Anna Belikova, Chief Specialist of the RT Service of External Communications (RT TV Channel), and media advisor to the Group of Strategic Vision “Russia – Islamic World”.
According to Deputy Chairman of the Group of Strategic Vision “Russia – Islamic World” Farit Mukhametshin, who presented the successful and systematic work of the Group to establish close relations between Russian regions and countries of the Muslim world, the Russian Federation is ready to share its technologies, scientific achievements, to participate in training of national staff and cooperate in science intensive areas. This is reflected, among other things, in the active cooperation of a number of Russian regions with their foreign colleagues.
“Here I would like to provide a few positive examples of successful work in a number of regions, where various forums are held. For instance, the International Islamic Investment Forum is planned to be held in Ufa this autumn. This is an international platform for the development of cooperation with Islamic business and Islamic financial institutions. Separately, I would like to mention the summit in Grozny aimed at supporting entrepreneurship and innovation”, Mukhametshin highlighted. He also said that a number of Russian regions could become pilot ones in the use of Islamic banking financial instruments.
The Deputy Chairman of the Group of Strategic Vision believes that leadership in this direction is deservedly taken by Tatarstan. Powerful potential, economic, scientific and educational achievements and active cooperation with OIC countries distinguish the work of the republic.
“Tatarstan has its trade and economic representative offices in 15 countries and develops relations with CIS countries, some of which are also members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. In recent years, Tatarstan has been a winner of the first prize for its success in creating favorable investment opportunities for foreign investors three times”, Mukhametshin noted.
In conclusion, Farit Mukhametshin expressed his special gratitude to the leadership of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, personally to the OIC Secretary General Yousef Bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen, members of the OIC leadership and secretariat for their active support for the Group’s initiatives and their integral participation in joint activities.
“All steps to expand the Group’s activities, with an emphasis on developing partnership between Russian regions and OIC countries, are aimed at improving the efficiency of the use of our countries’ vast potential and opportunities for developing business relations and inter-civilizational dialogue. Our goal is to take international cooperation with OIC member states to a qualitatively new level”, Mukhametshin concluded. He assured his colleagues that the proposals for further cooperation voiced in the course of the panel discussion would certainly be analyzed in detail and would form the basis of the agenda. “For our part, we can collect proposals from our regions, and submit them to the OIC in advance for pre-selection. In addition to it, we are considering the opportunity to hold a separate meeting or round table within the framework of KazanSummit-2021 dedicated to the interregional cooperation with participation of OIC delegations”, he added.
Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the OIC Ramazan Abdulatipov agreed with Mukhametshin’s words. He emphasized that the Group of Strategic Vision “Russia – Islamic World” was the organizational center in Russia for cooperation with Islamic countries.
“The fundamental role here is certainly given to the economic summit “Russia – Islamic World: KazanSummit”, which is not only the main platform for the cooperation between the Russian Federation and Islamic countries, but also one of the main platforms for interaction in the Islamic world as a whole. It is important that this work never finishes and remains organized at a high level”, he said.
The Permanent Representative reminded the audience in the online space that Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation took active part in the work of the summit, studied promising topics of the upcoming discussions and was constantly interested in the activities and the results of the forum.
“All this work helps to develop the cooperation between Russia and the Islamic world. Russia is not just a historically active companion and friend of the Islamic world, but even today it continues to play one of the leading roles in the development of the Islamic world. In particular, we are talking about annual bilateral consultations, which touch upon many areas of our interaction and mutual influence. Separate attention is paid to the interregional cooperation”, Abdulatipov added.
Analyzing the work that is already underway, the Permanent Representative of Russia to the OIC noted with regret that there are no other regions, except Tatarstan, that actively interact with the countries of the Muslim world. “This is also connected with the fact that people know little about the capabilities of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which includes many economic structures. One of them is, for instance, the Islamic Development Bank, interested in working within the territory of Russia”, Abdulatipov assured the participants of the discussion. “Russia needs such cooperation, including in the conditions of sanctions from Western countries. We should work more actively in the eastern direction and analyze possible prospects for long-term cooperation, as the Islamic vector is of great importance for the foreign policy of Russia”.
Marina Epifantseva, Deputy Chief Executive of the Investment Development Agency, also spoke about the importance of work with countries of the Muslim world. She highlighted that it was important to maintain the dialogue established today, so that interaction would be as effective as possible for both sides.
“As for the Tatarstan side itself, I would like to say that we have a very developed sphere of halal, it is part of our culture. One can find halal production almost in every single store. It is planned to construct a halal shopping center, as the moral fashion is gaining popularity. At the end of last year, a road map for the development and promotion of the concept of Halal Life Style, approved by the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan, which implies a full-fledged lifestyle by halal standards”, Epifantseva summed up. She also added that every resident of the republic was its ambassador by telling about benefits of living and working in the region in social networks.
Foreign counterparts took active part in the panel discussion dedicated to the topic of cooperation between Russian regions and the OIC state members. Thus, analyzing the changes in the political, economic and social spheres of life in the context of the pandemic, Ayman Sejiny, Director General of the Department for the Islamic Cooperation and the Development of the Private Sector of the Islamic Development Bank, called on everyone to unite and help each other in such a difficult situation. For his part, Director of the Department of Trade and Investment of the OIC Nagi Jabbarov drew attention to the instruments of Islamic finance, which required more detailed study, and called for support for young entrepreneurs.
Secretary General of the Standards and Metrology Institute for the Islamic Countries (SMIIC) Ihsan Hovut noted in his speech the growth of widespread interest in halal products, both among Muslims and followers of other religious beliefs.
Each participant of the discussion called for strengthening the already close relations between Russia and OIC, including through the organization of joint events and strengthening economic and cultural ties.
Ilmira Gafiyatullina
Photo: Instagram “100% Tatarstan”