Ilsur Metshin welcomes the participants of the United Cities Forum

The United Cities Forum has started in Kazan. It is held as part of the first international forum “ROSTKI: Russia and China - mutually beneficial cooperation.” About 150 representatives of local authorities from all over the world gathered at one site to exchange best practices.

The Forum opened with a meeting at the Kazan City Hall. The plenary session “City diplomacy as an important factor of development of modern foreign relations” was held with the participation of Ilsur Metshin, Mayor of Kazan, and Xiang Bo, the Consul General of China in Kazan.

Welcoming the participants, Ilsur Metshin noted that the forum brought together heads of municipalities from more than 50 cities from 14 countries, including China, Cameroon, Turkey, South Africa, Kazakhstan, etc. Its goal is to strengthen and develop the ties of countries united by a long history of friendship.

The Mayor noted that Kazan is an important center of international cooperation. Representatives of the capital of the republic of Tatarstan actively interact with Russian and foreign colleagues, more than 60 twinning and partnership agreements have been concluded. Four more documents are planned to be signed tomorrow.

The city is becoming the center of many international events. The capital of the republic of Tatarstan hosted the FIFA World Cup and World Aquatics Championships, and next year Kazan will host the BRICS summit and the international multi-sports competition “Games of the Future”.

“It would be impossible to organize these events alone, because we all live in a time when it is impossible to succeed in isolation. Only by being open to others and exchanging best practices and cases, we are able to develop and be competitive both for our residents and for visitors to the city,”- said Ilsur Metshin.

Advanced ideas for solving a number of global issues are concentrated in cities, he added. And the forum will become a platform for sharing this experience.

In turn, the Chinese Consul General in Kazan noted that city diplomacy is increasingly becoming a key platform for the development of international relations, national exchange and cooperation. It plays an important role in strengthening the unity and joint development of the countries of the world.

China and Russia are strategic partners, relations are at the highest level in history, cooperation is developing in all areas.

“With the personal assistance of the Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin, the city has established friendly relations with six cities in China, exchanges of cooperation in various areas are developing rapidly. Representatives of such cities as Harbin, Hefei, Kaifeng and Qiqihar take part in the forum. This fully demonstrates the desire of Chinese cities to strengthen cooperation with Russian cities like Kazan,”- Xiang Bo said.

According to him, the BRICS summit will open new opportunities for the capital of the republic of Tatarstan to expand interregional cooperation. The Consulate General of China in Kazan is ready to continue to act as a bridge in city diplomacy, to help the cities of the two countries strengthen cooperation.

The international forum “ROSTKI: Russia and China - mutually beneficial cooperation” takes place in Kazan." The program will bring together over three thousand participants from 20 countries.