Deputy Chairman of the Strategic Vision Group “Russia – Islamic World” Farit Mukhametshin took part in the panel discussion “International Cooperation between Regions of the Russian Federation and OIC Member States”. It was held within the framework of the unique intellectual business space “100% Tatarstan”. In his speech the speaker emphasized that international cooperation between regions of the Russian Federation and OIC member states was one of the priority areas of the Group’s activities.
“This year is marked for us by the 15th anniversary of the Russian Federation joining the Organization of Islamic Cooperation as an observer state. In this regard, throughout the whole year, we have been holding a number of events aimed at the consolidation of international relations in trade, economic, investments and humanitarian cooperation together with the Russian Federation’s representative office to the OIC”, Mukhametshin addressed the colleagues. “Over the past 15 years, cooperation between the Russian Federation and the OIC has been actively developing in many areas. Just a month ago there was held a meeting during which we worked out fundamental vectors for strengthening our partnership in the coming years”.
According to the Deputy Chairman of the Strategic Vision Group “Russia – Islamic World”, the updated concept of the Group’s activities, which was presented in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow last year, is based on the active support by the general public and regions of the Russian Federation for the steps taken by the country’s leadership in the field of consolidating traditionally friendly ties with OIC member countries. “Our partners from Muslim countries have the same spirit. Today, the regional component of this interaction arouses great interest, including among the states that are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation”, Mukhametshin is sure.
During his speech, the speaker reminded the participants of the discussion that the Group included another 7 regions of Russia, where Muslims live compactly - Bashkortostan, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Crimea, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia-Alania and Chechnya. There are also representatives of federal and regional leaders and a number of Russian regional heads among the Group’s members. “I am sure that the strengthening of the interregional factor in the Strategic Vision Group’s activities will help take the inter-civilizational dialogue and cooperation to a new level”, Mukhametshin said.
In the expert’s opinion, Russia 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.
Leadership in this direction is deservedly taken by Tatarstan, the Deputy Chairman of the Strategic Vision Group believes. 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. “The annual economic summit “Russia – Islamic World: KazanSummit” deserves special attention. The efficiency of this platform and its contribution to the comprehensive development of international cooperation was praised by Valentina Matvienko. It is here that the subjects of the Russian Federation have an opportunity to present their economic and investment potential, find promising business partners and investors, as well as to try out new forms of interaction. I would like to highlight that we are ready to acquaint foreign partners of the Strategic Vision Group “Russia – Islamic World” with the experience of Tatarstan and other regions in the development of international interregional cooperation of Russia and holding world-class events”.
Summing up the work done by the Group to consolidate and develop closer relations between regions of the Russian Federation and member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Mukhametshin 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”.
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.
Ilmira Gafiyatullina