Bashkortostan leads in agreements number in Volga-Yangtze format

UFA, 11 April 2019. /Bashinform News Agency/ translated by Tatiana Aksyutina/.

Bashkortostan became the leader among the Volga regions in cooperation conducted in the Volga-Yangtze format. It was discussed in Beijing, where a meeting was held between Deputy Plenipotentiary Envoy of the President of Russia to the Volga Federal District Oleg Mashkovtsev and Deputy Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China Zhang Han Huei. The parties discussed preparations for the third meeting of the Council on interregional cooperation in the Volga-Yangtze format, as well as the agreements reached and proposals for the further implementation of joint projects.

At the meeting, it was noted that currently at the level of regional governments, 38 framework agreements on trade-economic and humanitarian cooperation have been signed. The leader in this area is Bashkortostan (4 agreements).

Among the priorities of interregional cooperation are agriculture, the production of building materials, machinery and equipment, metallurgy, timber processing, information technology. Today, a joint project for the construction of a cement plant is being implemented in Bashkortostan. Cooperation is actively developing in the field of culture and art, tourism, medicine, media, and sports, the inter-university cooperation between Ufa and the Chinese provinces is successfully continuing.

According to Oleg Mashkovtsev, the Volga-Yangtze format has acquired a status of one of the most effective mechanisms for interaction between the two countries:

“Negotiations are actively held at the interregional level, and contacts are activated. In a relatively short period, dozens of bilateral business visits and meetings at various levels took place, which corresponds to the nature of the strategic partnership between our countries. ”

Oleg Mashkovtsev also noted active work in the humanitarian sphere. A special place in the list of joint projects is held by the Russian-Chinese Youth Forum, which has been held since 2014 on an annual and parity basis. In 2019, an international event is planned in the territory of the People’s Republic of China. The regions of the Volga Federal District formed a package of 90 new proposals for the implementation of humanitarian measures to further develop bilateral relations.