On 19 May 2023, the Ilgam Shakirov Concert Hall hosted a plenary session of the Russia – Islamic World: KazanForum 2023: Economy of Trust: Partnership between the Russian Federation and the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation XIV International Economic Forum.
The plenary session summarized the work of the Forum and heard official addresses from the heads of Russia and OIC, the OIC Secretariat, in accordance with the international protocol. Joint achievements of Russia and OIC countries in trade and economic, scientific and technical, educational, industrial, manufacturing, tourism, cultural, sports, health and information technology, Islamic finance and other important areas of economic activity on the basis of mutual respect, trust and shared values were also addressed.
In addition, plans and prospects for mutually beneficial relations between Russia and OIC countries were identified for the benefit of world population within the framework of harmonization of international processes and achieving a balance of sustainable global growth.
The moderator was Amro Abdel Hamid, director general of TEN TV channel.
Speakers were Rustam Minnikhanov, rais of the Republic of Tatarstan, chairman of the Group of Strategic Vision «Russia – Islamic World»; Shahin Mustafayev, deputy prime minister of Azerbaijan; Mohamad Sabu, minister of agriculture and food security of Malaysia; Marat Khusnullin, deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation; Andrey Belousov, first deputy prime minister of the Russian federation; Alexey Overchuk, deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation; Ahmad Kavis Sengendo, deputy secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation; Mammadhan Chakiyev, director general of the Transport and Communication Agency under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan; Salman Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, minister of finance and national economy of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
The event consisted of two parts. The first one was devoted to presentations by socio-political figures and experts on the theme of the Forum; the second part took the form of a discussion.
Opening the Forum, Rais of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov addressed words of gratitude to President Vladimir Putin for his trust and unfailing support to cooperation between Russia and partners from Muslim states at the regional level, and also to Marat Khusnullin and all federal ministries and agencies for their great work in organizing the event, and to foreign and Russian guests and partners for their participation and contribution to the substantive part of the Forum program.
Rustam Minnikhanov emphasized the important role of Vladimir Putin’s personal initiative in developing multifaceted cooperation with Muslim states. “Today Russia is an observer to OIC, while the organization itself is an important interstate institution of the Islamic world,” he stressed.
The politician also noted that the positions of the Russian federation and Muslim countries today coincide on many issues of world development.
He drew attention to the most important component of interaction – trade and economic and investment areas. Islamic economy is a major part of world economy. Its weight in international trade is growing every year.
“In the current circumstances, it is important to increase mutual trade turnover; intelligently rebuild the supply chain of goods, including the restructuring of export flows; work on import substitution and strengthening technological sovereignty in countries; improve international transport corridors; and implement joint investment projects.
For 14 years now, the KazanForum has been bringing together representatives of international organizations, public authorities, financial institutions, diplomatic missions, parliamentarians, leading investors and top-managers of Russian and foreign companies.
Throughout all these years, the event has been working on such tasks as developing recommendations in defining strategic prospects for the development of international economic, scientific and technical, social and cultural relations between the Forum participants; helping to strengthen relations between business circles of Russia, CIS and OIC countries; engaging world leading experts in joint discussions on current economic and political issues; developing recommendations and legislative initiatives aimed at solving problems in the functioning of institutions of Islamic financial system and Russian economy; organizing experience exchange of successful practices in implementing financial projects; attracting foreign direct investment to economy of Russian regions.
The business program of this year’s Forum is very rich. Its main topic is “Partnership between the Russian Federation and OIC Countries in the Conditions of Trust and Mutual Respect”, the politician said.
According to Rustam Minnikhanov, Russia has great prospects in the development of Islamic economy. For instance, halal industry is actively developing – food, tourism, medicine and other areas; there are positive examples of IT-technologies that are aimed not only at Muslims, but also at a wider audience; Islamic finance is developing. Serious work is being carried out in this direction.
The politician is convinced that it is important to use KazanForum to discuss new models of international business cooperation, helping to reduce technological vulnerability of each country.
In his turn, Ahmad Kavis Sengendo, deputy secretary general for economic cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (Uganda), shared his views on the need for business ties between Russia and OIC countries.
He said that OIC countries have great scientific and technical potential and natural resources, which are important “to transfer into the result – the economic development of countries with the aim of general welfare”. He invited Russian businessmen to invest their resources in his country, particularly in developing halal industry and food security.
“Russia produces wheat and fertilizers. I invite cooperation in this sphere. Besides, I hope that your country will contribute to the development of halal industry,’ Ahmad Kavis Sengendo said.
Sheikh Salman Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, minister of finance and national economy of the Kingdom of Bahrain, highlighted that relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and Russia are developing quite successfully. “It meets the interests of peoples of our countries. We are in constant contact, building relations on the basis of respect and principles of good neighborliness and tolerance,” he said.
The minister of finance of Bahrain also mentioned the Priority-2030 program, which creates prospects for entrepreneurs, investors, and is able to withstand the complexities of today’s world.
The second part of the session began with a question from the moderator about the completion date of the North-South transport corridor, which was addressed to Andrey Belousov.
The politician stressed that the North-South transport corridor is an integral part of the global process of establishing a multipolar world and cannot be associated with sanctions. The North-South corridor covers the states of the Caspian region, South and South-East Asia, and the Persian Gulf.
“We are now talking about the first phase of this transport corridor. Yesterday an agreement was signed with Iran to build the railway part of the western branch of this big project.
By the year 2030, the volume of cargo traffic will have tripled to 45 tons of cargo. The project will become fully operational in the next few years, but there is a lot of work to be done – it is necessary to build a road, checkpoints, solve issues of quietness, speed of cargo movement and safety,” Belousov said.
The following question about why Russia’s interaction with countries of the Islamic world is much more modest that its cooperation with China and India was answered by Alexey Overchuk, deputy prime minister of the Russian Federation.
In his opinion, Russia has recently been increasingly thinking of itself as the North of Eurasia, which is justified in terms of following the trends of shifting centres of economic power and industrial production from West to East, from North to South, also the processes of globalization.
“We are building logistics linked to countries of the global south and Muslim states. Last year, the eastern route of the corridor, running from Russia to Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran, started to move containers by train. Within the framework of the creation of an independent financial system, energy and food security, we see a great positive future in cooperation with countries of the Islamic world. We are working on the task of reducing barriers to trade and simplifying interaction in the economic sphere.
In addition to it, in order to cultivate the Russian language in Eurasia, we have started building schools and sending Russian language teachers there,” the politician told about the plans for the transport corridor project.
In his turn, Mohamad Sabu, minister of agriculture and food security of Malaysia, replied to a question on how halal production process in Malaysia is set up and what are the prospects for developing this industry in cooperation with Russia and OIC countries.
Mohamad Sabu noted that Malaysia exports halal products to America, China and Indonesia.
“If we work with Russia, we are confident that it can come out on top in halal industry. In our own country, by developing halal industry, we have focused on agriculture. Besides, we are working on the improvement of the educational process of agrarian universities, so that graduates can work in research institutes upon graduation. I am inviting Russian businessmen to visit an exhibition in Malaysia in 2024 on my country’s achievements in agriculture,” Mohamad Sabu said.
The final question was addressed to Rustam Minnikhanov. The Rais of Tatarstan was asked which sites of Kazan had not been seen by the foreign participants of the Forum.
“A newcomer is likely to be the first to try the food, to see the historical sights, the Kremlin, Lake Kaban, the embankment…And in general, stay here. Why are you leaving?” Rustam Minnikhanov joked.