Tatarstan Investment Development Agency

3 February 2015, Tuesday

On February 3, 2015 in the conference hall of "IT-park" held a meeting of the Final Board of Tatarstan Investment Development Agency "On the results of Tatarstan Investment Development Agency in 2014 and tasks for 2015". The event was attended by President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, who also visited the exhibition of investment projects and held a number of meetings with representatives of the group for the production of household appliances Haier - "Haier Electrical Appliance" CEO Mr. Van Shouzhun and rector of the “Skolkovo” Moscow School of Management Andrey Sharonov.

The first element of the TIDA team performance was the video demonstration, which presents the main results of the work of the Agency for the 2011-2014 year.

Taliya Minullina: "A time of opportunity"

With a keynote report presented TIDA Chief Executive Taliya Minullina which mostly talked about the plans and objectives of the current year, priority measures of improving the investment activity in Tatarstan.

As noted TIDA Chief Executive, in accordance with the program "Economic Development and Innovative Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan for 2014 - 2020 years" defined area of responsibility of government agencies for certain indicators. TIDA’s areas of responsibility are investments in fixed assets from extra-budgetary sources, which according to preliminary data for 2014 amounted to about 500 billion rubles. Foreign direct investment in the first 9 months of last year amounted to 401 million dollars, which is 137 per cent over the same period of 2013. Taliya Minullina told about the analysis of the difficult economic situation. "The role of investment in this period is a multiple increase. Now it is important to react quickly, to take timely measures aimed at resolving and stabilizing the situation",- said a member of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan.

"Recent events in Russia and Tatarstan are associated with increased relevance of the work with the Asian countries and the Islamic world. The objectives of the Agency for 2015 will be: assistance in creating import replacing productions, while goods should be oriented to the external market (a high-tech and knowledge-intensive production); investment strategy of Tatarstan on the basis of the strategy in 2030 and the corresponding action plan; the formation of the list of priority investment projects; improving of the interaction with municipalities and representatives of Tatarstan in terms of attracting investment", - described the TIDA tasks for 2015 the Agency’s Chief Executive.

In this case, Taliya Minullina proposed a number of concrete measures: to generate the actual base of potential areas for investment projects; analyze needs of Tatarstan market, identify the purpose of such areas, only then proceed to the selection of investors, the development of financial models and projects support. For such work is necessary to modernize Geoportal, market analysis and identification of strategic investment niches, formation of the list of priority investment projects. This work enables an integrated approach to the development of the republic, said Taliya Minullina.

Particular attention was paid to the need for electronic monitoring of investment projects. The Agency is working on a standard form of the roadmap of the investment project. This transparent mechanism will allow the investor to feel more confident. In 2015 it is planned to coordinate with all departments and approve such an important Republican document as regulation of interaction of investment activity of the Republic of Tatarstan. It is planned to create a new Investment portal of RT - as simple as possible, but informative, friendly and helpful. The advantages of Tatarstan portal is that information will be available in 10 languages, posted a video message of existing foreign investors, a virtual tour of the opportunities provided by the economy of our republic. Investors' Club, created by the Agency, is a tool to identify administrative barriers, providing assistance to solve actual business problems. In 2015, this work will be intensified.

TIDA Chief Executive also told about the construction of SMART CITY: work on the project continues. In order to improve the quality of project management Tatarstan President decided to restructure Tatarstan Development Corporation. Now, as part of TIDA created a special department for the development of "smart cities".

TIDA also attracts investors in the Innopolis special economic zone.

Innopolis in Tatar, Skolkovo and new projects

In the Board presented the rector of the Moscow School of Management "Skolkovo" Andrey Sharonov, Managing Director of "Haier Electrical Appliance" Van Shouzhun, President of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan Myakzyum Salahov, Consul General of the Republic of Turkey in Kazan Turhan Dilmach, JSC "SEZ "Innopolis" (Russia) CEO Igor Nosov.

Andrei Sharonov, in particular, said: "Today, Tatarstan – is a recognized leader in the economy. Perhaps today the republic is not necessary to pursue any investment. I think Tatarstan is ready to choose investment", - said the rector of Skolkovo.

General Director of "Haier Electrical Appliance" Van Shouzhun spoke about the history of interaction with Tatarstan and expressed hope for further cooperation.

President of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan Myakzyum Salahov underscored that the priority areas for investment is import replacing production and new technologies.

Consul General of Turkey in Kazan Turhan Dilmach thanked the Republic of Tatarstan for the close strategic partnership with the Republic of Turkey and expressed confidence that this cooperation will continue.

Igor Nosov spoke in Tatar about the Innopolis project.

As part of the Board was signed an agreement on the implementation of investment projects on the territory of Tatarstan: the Head of the Drozhzhanovsky region of Tatarstan Alexander Shadrikov and Vice-president of the Association of Entrepreneurs of Hebei Province of China signed the agreement.

TIDA Chief Executive Taliya Minullina and Vice-president of "Benkons Construction" Faik Mammadkhanov (Azerbaijan) signed the agreement on cooperation: in Tatarstan projects will be implemented with the participation of Azerbaijani investors.

PRESIDENT PARTING WORDS

Tatarstan President, summing up the Board, said that TIDA functioning corresponds to the global practice, the creation of the Agency has paid off, and underscored that making results in the field of investment takes time.

Mr. Minnikhanov also noted the need to strengthen the Agency's work and focus on attracting investment into the republic and support of investment projects, as well as increasing support for exports. "We must strengthen the work in terms of attracting investors in China, Southeast Asia, Africa, - said Rustam Minnikhanov - but it does not mean that the cooperation with partners from the US, Europe will be phased out - work in this direction as well will continue", - said the head of the Republic.

The President drew particular attention to the need for training and skills development: "Each investment project requires trained people who understand the specifics of the work, market conditions... And we must make all effort to create the best conditions for investors in the region ".

What's good for Tatarstan is good for the country. We have to go half a step ahead of everyone else, to win the competition", - said the President of the Republic of Tatarstan.

This Board marked the beginning of a new era in the development of Tatarstan Investment Development Agency. TIDA team has gained a strong momentum and a great opportunity to effectively and efficiently work on a new level.

The TIDA Board: "road map" of investment projects, transparency for investors and new vectors of development