The World Cities Summit: Kazan is fortifying its position on the world arena

The World Cities Summit, the leading event of global scale attended by Ms.Taliya Minullina, the Head of Tatarstan Investment Development Agency, threw open the doors in Singapore from 10 to 14 July 2016.

For the first time the World Cities Summit was held in 2008. The main agenda of the summit is to ensure sustainable urban development, solving of environmental and economic problems, issues of water utilization and energy saving, design of new projects in the field of urban development and cooperation in the implementation of the overall perspective projects. An international exhibition of innovative products in the field of urbanization, urban infrastructure development, housing services management and etc. was held at site of the summit.

On July 10, 2016, the Head of Tatarstan Investment Development Agency jointly with the diplomatic staff of the Russian Embassy in Singapore participated in the opening ceremony of the World Cities Summit. Mr. Tony Tan Keng Yam, the President of Singapore, gave a welcome speech to the heads of administrations of the largest cities, representatives of international organizations, governmental agencies, companies and public organizations from more than 45 countries of the world.

Russia was represented by Tatarstan at the World Cities Summit in Singapore. Tatarstan is becoming increasingly influential participant of the world urban agenda thanks to active involvement in significant international events, as well as for establishment of its own international forum KazanSummit and it is always ready to share accumulated experience and successful cases with other regions. More than 100 largest megalopolises from Europe, Africa, Asia, South and North America participated in the event apart from Tatarstan.

«Over the last 20 years our republic has been developing under the modern scenario, therefore there are many problems including environmental ones, especially evident in Naberezhnye Chelny and Kazan. Tatarstan currently is using the best practices. For example, there is a challenge in transport sector for the next 2-3 years in shifting 50% of public service vehicles, 30% of municipal engineering and 30% building machinery to natural gas motor fuel and it is very good, potential for development is very large — emphasized Taliya Minullina. — It is necessary to solve a lot of issues at the summit. Issues of water conservation, recycling and waste management, development of economy, small and medium-sized business were widely discussed by world experts in urbanism. Social policy, focus on innovations and experiences for the benefit of the community were special subjects at the Summit. These issues are very relevant, we will use the world mega-cities experience in solving them».

In the course of the Summit Taliya Minullina participated in Young Leaders Symposium, which is a collective discussion of experts from all over the world. In the framework of the Symposium the Head of Tatarstan Investment Development Agency presented economic and investment potential of the republic to international community. Also a meeting with the board of directors of Swiss company Nestle S.A., the largest food manufacturer in the world was held during the Young Leaders Symposium.

In the framework of the Mayors Forum session the Head of Tatarstan Investment Development presented Kazan: capital of the republic and city of high technologies Innopolis to participants of the summit. Besides all this, Taliya Minullina participated in a series of sessions and discussions, made acquaintance with the world best experts and leading activists in urban development, held business meetings and negotiations.

«Influence of Tatarstan as one of the most successful Russian regions is becoming increasingly evident, the republic’s capital makes the top three most popular Russian regions for tourism, Tatarstan is first in investment climate in Russia, — noted Taliya Minullina. — The republic is becoming a center for international events. This year, we have already held a number of prestigious events such as the KazanSummit2016, session of the Executive Board of the world organization of the United Cities and Local Governments and the world rally stage of the „Silk Road, Moscow — Beijing“ and others. An eventful program is expected ahead — the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the Worldskills Championship will be held in Kazan. Our goal is to make Tatarstan prominent in a worldwide scale!».