Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France in Russian Federation Stanislas de Laboulaye in Kazan Kremlin

May 19, Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev has met with the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France in Russian Federation Stanislas de Laboulaye in Kazan Kremlin.

Stanislas de Laboulaye was appointed on the post of France Ambassador in RF in November 2006. It is his first visit to Kazan. In spite of that the Ambassador has evaluated Tatarstan and France cooperation as a good one, Tatarstan President considered that volumes of economic cooperation may be more scaled. “It seems to me that we act in this issue not enough aggressive”, Mintimer Shaimiev considers.

At the same time, due to Mintimer Shaimiev “in the area of humanitarian area and education our relationships are an example of cooperation with other countries”.

“France has a rich culture; and we study it deeply. French culture becomes property of our multinational peoples”, RT President underlines.

Franco-Russian relationships are one of prioritized directions of Russian Federation’s external policy. Mintimer Shaimiev has underlined the role of Ambassadors in this process and thanked Stanislas de Laboulaye for his help in strengthening of cooperation.

It is known that 2010 the Year of French culture in Russia and the Year of Russian Culture in France are planes to be held. Mintimer Shaimiev considers that Tatarstan is ready for this activity more than other regions of Russia.

The President of RT one more time has underlined necessity to strengthen activity in the area of economic cooperation: “Time of informative process has gone; we need concrete steps”. As a positive example the head of the republic has sentenced cooperation with the company Schneider Electric; and he has indicated that French companies must be presented in SEZ Alabuga.

One more important area for cooperation the RT President has named technical parks: “France has a great experience especially in the field of young specialist preparation”.

Answering journalists questions, Stanislas de Laboulaye has pointed out that Tatarstan is intensively developing region. And he has been impressed by Kazan’s building bum. “We have all conditions for our cooperation. Our delegation consists of businessmen, who have taken part in Franco-Tatarstan Business Forum today. They are representatives of banks, hypermarkets, transport companies”.

The meeting participators have also been discussed issues of cooperation in the field of tourism. Stanislas de Laboulaye has indicated that Tatarstan has great potential in this area. “You possess unique historical heritage; and French people must see it”.

The Ambassador is interested in experience of multi confessional Tatarstan. “This unique experience became an issue for special discussion during the meeting with the President of Tatarstan, - the Ambassador underlined during the press statement. – Islam today is the second religion in France. And all that I learned in Tatarstan will help to strengthen relationships of France’s citizens”.