Around 3,500 participants from 35 regions of the Russian Federation and 22 administrative divisions of India registered for the forum, along with 206 media representatives.
“Tatarstan attaches great importance to developing cooperation with India within the framework of relations between our two states. The governments and business communities of our countries are actively working to expand interaction in various fields. We are ready to participate in these processes at the regional level. Our republic has experience working with Indian partners. Delegations from your country, both official and business, visit Tatarstan, while representatives of our republic are also frequent guests in India — we get acquainted and study best practices,” said Rustam Minnikhanov, Head of the Republic of Tatarstan.
During the forum, 15 business sessions were held on key topics: investments and finance, labor market, education and science, IT and digital technologies, medicine, oil and gas chemistry, agriculture, creative industries, film production, and media. Ninety-three experts representing various business and scientific fields participated.
“Everything produced in Russia for the domestic market can also be produced for the Indian market, which is dozens of times larger. We expect that in the coming years, the middle class in India will exceed 800 million people. To develop and stimulate international trade, our government intends to open international corridors where all procedures will be handled through a ‘one-stop’ system. We plan to develop these corridors by industry, since some are interested in defense, others in pharmaceuticals, and others in the automotive sector,” said Vinay Kumar, Indian Ambassador to Russia, on the sidelines of the forum.
An important part of the forum was the international exhibition "India and Tatarstan: New Approaches to Cooperation," showcasing achievements and promising directions in bilateral collaboration. Exhibitors included five Indian and eleven Russian companies.
“The TIME Forum is being held for the first time but has already delivered concrete results. Nineteen agreements have been signed, covering a wide range of sectors — from education and medicine to agriculture and entrepreneurship. Among them are a sister-city intention agreement between Agra and Spassky District of the Republic of Tatarstan (home to the Taj Mahal and the ancient city of Bolgar, respectively), memorandums between Indian and Russian universities, arrangements with Indian partners on workforce recruitment, and the creation of the Indo-Tatarstan Business Club with the participation of the chambers of commerce and industry of both republics. These initiatives have laid a solid foundation for the development of long-term relations between the two countries. I am confident that the forum’s impact will soon be felt — through new projects, contracts, and joint opportunities,” said Taliya Minullina, Head of the Investment Development Agency of the Republic of Tatarstan.