KAZAN, August 19. /TASS/. Russian regions play an important role in the development of Sino-Russian relations and they in particular can become sites for testing new interactional formats, head of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov said at the plenary session o of the 3rd Sprouts Business Forum.
"Cooperation between regions is playing a major role in the evolution of Russian-Chinese relations. They are called to act as the drivers of economic developments and sites to try new formats for interaction,” Minnikhanov said. Tatarstan is making a noticeable contribution to the development of interaction between Russia and China at its level, he added.
Chinese investment in creating high-technology production facilities needs to be expanded in the coming years, Minnikhanov noted.
"To jointly develop pharmaceutical clusters, roll out digital solutions in industry and agriculture, launch collaborative research programs on clean energy, smart cities and artificial intelligence, and open new business incubators and accelerators with the participation of young entrepreneurs of the two countries," he added.
The 3rd Sprouts Business Forum dedicated to the mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and China is being held in Kazan on August 18-19. The business program comprises about 100 activities, including 70 business sessions. The participants will discuss issues of the economy, industry, education, culture, finance, investments, transport corridors, agriculture and tourism. About ten thousand attendees are expected.
TASS is the general information partner of the forum.