Marat Khusnullin on KazanForum: we need to move South

"The impression of the forum is the most positive. Firstly, the event is very representative: representatives of 85 states -15 thousand participants, 160 speakers take part. I looked at the composition of the participants: almost all the countries of Central Asia and the Middle East are represented by solid delegations – government chairmen, deputy chairmen, ministers. This shows that the interest of Muslim countries in the forum and Russia as a whole is great, and Muslim countries are our reliable partners," Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Marat Khusnullin told reporters at the XIV International Forum "Russia – the Islamic World: KazanForum".

Marat Khusnullin also noted the high economic interest of Islamic countries in the Russian Federation. In particular, from the point of view of building logistics. "The North–South transport corridor is of interest to literally everyone: the Emirates, Bahrain, the Persian Gulf countries, the whole of Central Asia," he said.

Russia has been actively developing transport infrastructure in the eastern direction – as a result, the M-11 and M-12 highways appeared, extended to Yekaterinburg and Tyumen, Marat Khusnullin noted. But modern realities are such that we need to move South. "To the South we see a passage through the Caspian Sea, including by sea, we see a bypass of the Caspian Sea from the west and from the east, we see opportunities for the development of both rail and road transport. All the delegations of Central Asia have agreed on this with us. We signed an agreement with someone, and we agreed to meet with others in the near future and work out these mechanisms, linking all roads. As we are doing a unified program for linking federal, regional and municipal roads in the country, we also agreed that we will synchronize all our plans for road, railway construction, and the development of air traffic," Marat Khusnullin said.

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation highlighted the interest of the Islamic world in domestic halal and agricultural products and their promotion abroad, as well as the purchase of goods and the provision of services. The potential for the development of cooperation, noted Marat Khusnullin, is very great.