Speaking to journalists after a meeting between the president of Tatarstan, Mintimer Shaimiyev, and a group of Arab business leaders from the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries headed by Adnan Kassar, the chief executive of the Fransabank Group, Kogogin said, "The scope of issues involved in the discussions was extremely wide. The volume of investment could reach up to $20 billion."
Kogogin went on to say that the Arab investors were chiefly interested in Tatarstan's petrochemical industry. He also added that besides negotiations with top-ranking officials from companies such as Tatneft and Kazanorgsintez, the investors had met with representatives from Kazan State University to discuss issues relating to the training of specialists.
President Shaimiyev also commented during the meetings on the new range of possibilities for cooperation between Russia and the Arab world. "Tatarstan is open to cooperation in all fields in which we have interests," he told journalists. "At the present, the greatest opportunities for development lie in the petrochemical and mechanical engineering spheres."
"We were not expecting to immediately conclude agreements during the current visit, but we have extremely high hopes for the future," commented Adnan Kassar, adding that a range of other issues, including tourism and real estate, had been discussed during the meetings.
The General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries was established in 1951. The headquarters of the organization are in Beirut, Lebanon. It is an Arab regional non-governmental organization that represents the Arab private sector on regional and international levels.
Tatarstan currently does business with 14 of the 21 world's Arab countries. Its main partners are Sudan, Kuwait, Egypt, Syria, and the U.A.E., and it deals mainly in trucks, light aircraft, and rubber products. The republic's combined turnover from business with Arab countries stood at $102.1 million in 2005, and $64.3 million in 2006.
