New horizons of cooperation with Country of the Rising Sun

Issues of a big potential for cooperation of Japan and Tatarstan and opportunities of its realization in various spheres of economic and cultural life were discussed at a meeting of President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaimiev and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the Russian Federation Issei Nomura, held on 21 October in the Kazan Kremlin.

Today, the both sides attach importance to development of mutually beneficial cooperation in all spheres of life. Russian-Japanese interaction levered up after the visit to Japan in 2000 of the Russian delegation led by President of Russia Vladimir Putin. Mintimer Shaimiev, he was in that delegation, marked that the negotiations were not easy, but productive. One of items of the signed the plan of action was economic cooperation of Japan with regions of the Russian Federation. Regular meetings and consideration of problems at various summits help to promote realization of these arrangements, it facilitates our task, the President of Tatarstan noticed. In Japan it was declared that it is necessary to lay ways through Russia, in order Japan could deliver goods to Europe faster, and work in this direction goes on. It pleases that between our companies and businessmen there is more mutual understanding, irrespective of distance.

Carrier diplomat, who has devoted a considerable part of his 40-years diplomatic activity to work with the USSR and Russia, Mr. Nomura named the basic purpose of the visit to Tatarstan acquaintance with the republic, so that "to see with his own eyes where and how we may find opportunities of cooperation".

As it was marked by RT Minister of Trade and Foreign Economic Cooperation Khafiz Salikhov at the end of the meeting, it far from much what was done for expansion of cooperation. Japan is one of leading countries in the world, however, big companies of this country are absent at the market of Tatarstan. In the near future, some large Japanese companies are to integrate into joint Tatarstan-Japanese projects, for what today there are all necessary conditions.

Among areas of economy, in which cooperation would be the most successful, Khafiz Salikhov named petroleum and petrochemical branches, power and energy-saving.