World Trade Center Moscow Director General Vladimir Strashko took part in the XIII International Economic Summit «Russia - Islamic World: KazanSummit 2022», which was held in Kazan on May 19-21, 2022.
The international economic summit «Russia - Islamic World: KazanSummit» annually brings together representatives of international organizations, public authorities, financial institutions, embassies, parliament deputies, leading investors and businessmen, top managers of Russian and foreign companies.
The aim of the Summit is to strengthen trade, economic, scientific, technical, social and cultural ties between Russia and the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan reveal the potential of interaction with the states of the Islamic world in a new way.
The annual International Economic Summit of Russia and the OIC Member States is held with the support of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan.
The participants of the event meet at the site to discuss issues of cooperation and implementation of joint projects, establish new business contacts, and demonstrate the economic opportunities and investment potential of our country in their speeches and presentations. The key topics of discussion at the XIII International Economic Summit «Russia - Islamic World: KazanSummit 2022» were Islamic finance and partner banking, the halal industry, youth diplomacy, export development, the ESG agenda, entrepreneurship and investment.
Among the participants this year there are: the leaders of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, ministers of Islamic countries, ambassadors and consuls of more than 15 states, international delegations and foreign experts, as well as heads and ministers of Russian regions, representatives of the chambers of commerce and industry of OIC countries and regions of Russia , Minister of Economic Development of Russia Maxim Reshetnikov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of WTC Moscow, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Sergey Katyrin, Director General of WTC Moscow Vladimir Strashko, Chairman of the Russia-Islamic World Strategic Vision Group, President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty Milli Gengesha Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs H.P. Sheikh Abdulrahman Al Khalifa, Secretary General of SMIIC - Institute of Standards and Metrology OIS Ihsan Ovut, Chairman of UNWHD World Halal Day Mohammed Jinnah. In total - more than 5,000 guests from 72 countries of the world and 38 regions of Russia.
Speaking at the plenary session of the XIII International Economic Summit «Russia - the Islamic World: KazanSummit 2022» on the topic «Sharing Economy and the Common Benefit of Halal», Sergey Katyrin noted that the standards by which halal products are produced should naturally be adapted to the understanding of manufacturers: «When we have tried to sell products in Iran, it has turned out that Sunnis and Shiites have different approaches to halal food, and different states have different approaches. Even those who have common standards sometimes have different requirements for different products».
In this regard, according to Sergey Katyrin, the question of developing a system of certification centers for halal products is of great importance. «We have a Center established under the Council of Muftis of Russia, but we need to create the same centers in other organizations, in order to satisfy the interests of all our manufacturers. We also would like to move our colleagues, entrepreneurs to work with our foreign colleagues in this sector».
Sergey Katyrin also emphasized that the large representation of entrepreneurs at the Forum in Kazan only confirms the huge interest in Russia in the topic of halal, which has already become a way of life for many people: «This topic has a broader aspect – here we speak about consumer goods, Islamic banking, tourism, and so on. <…> 20 million Muslims live in Russia. This is a huge potential for the implementation of the halal theme within the country, and we have very good established ties with our colleagues in the Islamic world».
Russia's trade turnover with the OIC countries for 9 months of 2021 amounted to 1.47 billion USD, exports - 1.07 billion USD, and imports - 407.7 million USD. Among main exporters there are: Kazakhstan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkey. The main importers are Turkey, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan.
The Summit also hosted the Russia Halal Expo 2022 exhibition with the total area of 10,000 sq.m, the Machine Building Cluster Forum, the World Halal Day, the OIC Young Entrepreneurs Forum, the OIC Young Diplomats Forum, SberTalk - a multimodal offline discussion platform with representatives of government and business, where the acute problems of the financial sector are discussed, the Modest Fashion Day and events dedicated to the 1100th anniversary of the adoption of Islam by the Volga Bulgaria.
In 2021, the International Economic Summit «Russia - Islamic World: KazanSummit» brought together 4,735 representatives of international organizations, government bodies, financial institutions, top managers of Russian and foreign companies from 64 countries and 41 regions of Russia, as well as 24 Ambassadors and 5 consuls of foreign states. In addition, the heads of more than 10 ministries of foreign states took part in the Summit. The international exhibition of the halal industry Russia Halal Expo was also held, in which 113 exhibitors from 8 regions of Russia and 11 countries took part.