Samara was visited by a delegation of the Republic of Turkey headed by Consul General of Turkey in Kazan Ismet Erikan. The two-day business visit was organized by the Investment Promotion Agency of the Samara Region on the initiative of the Regional Government and the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments of the region.
On the first day, diplomats led by the Consul General visited the Togliatti Special Economic Zone, the Zhigulevskaya Valley high-tech industrial park, and the AvtoVAZ industrial park.
On Friday, May 27, Viktor Kudryashov, the First Vice-Governor and Chairman of the Government of the Samara Region, held a meeting with honored guests. The meeting took place at the site of the regional center «My Business». The participants discussed new areas for cooperation.
At the meeting, they discussed the prospects for building up trade, economic and cultural ties. The Turkish side is interested in cooperation with a dynamically developing region. The Samara region has also prepared proposals for specific projects and areas of activity.
«According to the results of last year, in terms of investment rates, we became the absolute leader in the Volga Federal District, ahead of such developed regions as Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, and the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the Prime Minister said at the meeting. - The increase in the volume of investments last year in comparable prices amounted to 22.5%, for small and medium-sized businesses - more than 40%. Last year, 25 new large industries were opened in the region and about 10 thousand new jobs were created. We are among the ten regions of Russia in terms of gross regional product».
At the meeting, the first vice-governor outlined a number of areas in which cooperation with Turkish colleagues would be of interest to the region. These are trade, construction, tourism, development of joint ventures. As one of the advantages of the region in the development of bilateral relations, Viktor Kudryashov called the commissioning in 2023 of a new bridge across the Volga as part of the Europe-Western China international transport route.
Ismet Erikan, in turn, recalled the long-standing cooperation between the Republic of Turkey and the Samara region, where Turkish contractors worked on a number of large projects in the 1990s. An enterprise with Turkish roots LLC Nobel Automotive Rusiya successfully operates in the region.
«Turkey is a long-standing, reliable partner of the Samara region and we definitely have many areas for expanding mutually beneficial cooperation. We presented to the guests of honor the investment potential of the region, our main investment sites, where Turkish companies can get the best conditions for the implementation of their projects. We are always happy to welcome representatives of friendly countries to Samara who are ready for great joint work», - said Dmitry Bogdanov, Minister of Economic Development and Investments of the Samara Region.
At the talks, the Consul General offered the Samara and Turkish delegations to exchange business missions. The parties agreed in advance that the Samara business mission may visit Turkey in July, and in September a return visit of Turkish entrepreneurs to the Samara region will take place.
According to Ismet Erikan, Turkey intends to expand cooperation with the universities of the Samara region and strengthen ties in the field of culture.
«Today we held a very important meeting, we have great potential for the development of economic and cultural ties. Our bilateral relations are constantly developing and growing. Today we talked about the possibilities of developing our relations in the field of culture and education. It was a very useful and friendly meeting, our cooperation will continue in the coming period,” commented Ismet Erikan on the results of the meeting.
On the same day, the Turkish delegation visited the «Preobrazhenka» industrial park, where a presentation of the potential of the site of the state industrial park and the wide logistical capabilities of the region took place. Director General of JSC Industrial Parks Sergey Evseev also spoke about the state industrial parks «Novosemeykino» and «Chapaevsk». The special interest of the foreign delegation was aroused by the preferential conditions offered for investors in the implementation of investment projects. Ismet Erikan noted that a visit to the industrial parks of the Samara region will be included in the program of the return business mission of Turkish entrepreneurs to the Samara region.
