Tatarstan President noted the importance of supporting small and medium-sized businesses in the Republic within the annual address to the state Council of RT

Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov addressed the state Council of Tatarstan with annual speech. As part of the address, the head of the Republic noted the importance of supporting small and medium-sized businesses in the region.

As part of the annual Address to the Parliament on September 25, 2019, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov outlined the support of small and medium-sized businesses and the expansion of sales channels of local producers as the main vector of economic development.

The head of the Republic noted the importance of the Electronic Marketing center launched in the Republic for reliable sales of products: 500 enterprises of the Republic have already sold products for more than 1.5 billion rubles. The tool was developed in the Ministry of economy of the Republic of Tatarstan and introduced in may this year.

According to Rustam Minnikhanov, the weekly hearing of the heads of municipalities and the quarterly Council on entrepreneurship gives a tangible effect for the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the region.

This made it possible to form, following the example of the "Library of right decisions" of the Agency for strategic initiatives, a base of best practices of each district, which can be broadcast to the whole Republic.  As a result, more than 60 new investment niches for municipalities have been identified, and systematic work has begun to bring products to the foreign market.

The President called the launch of the Internet resource "Proven business" by the Ministry of economy of Tatarstan together with Supervisory authorities and Prosecutor's office to prevent cases of pressure on market players a qualitative example of the project to support entrepreneurship. In addition, educational support for entrepreneurship is provided by the SME Portal, the entrepreneurship Factory, the Business class program.

Rustam Minnikhanov also noted that to ensure the growth of the economy as a whole, the infrastructure should grow at a faster pace, and gave an order to increase the number of investment infrastructure facilities to one hundred by the 100th anniversary of Tatarstan, which will be celebrated in 2020.

According to the head of the Republic, five territories of advanced development, two special economic zones "Alabuga" and "Innopolis", as well as industrial sites and industrial parks, the number of which has already reached 90, play a decisive role in the economy of the region and the program of its investment development. The next step to fulfill the order of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan will be the creation of the third special economic zone "AlmA". 

Another instruction to the Government was to develop a program for the development of e-Commerce in Tatarstan. Today, the Government relies on online sales channels to develop the export potential of local producers.

It is not only about creating an effective digital infrastructure so that manufacturers can, in addition to retail stores, offer their services and products via the Internet in the domestic market, but also about the access of local producers and sellers to international trading platforms - Wildberries, OZON.

"According to the instructions of the President, our Republic implements solutions that allow us to enter the rating of regions with leading positions of innovative and investment development. The development of the Program will contribute to the development of small and medium – sized businesses, their competitiveness and cooperation with large-commented on the initiative of the President, head of the Ministry of economy Farid Abdulganiev. "By supporting russian marketplaces, we are, in fact, launching a fundamentally new business strategy that can have a significant impact on the global e-Commerce market, which previously did not know competition from chinese manufacturers and sellers."

This week, Tatarstan economy Minister held meetings with representatives of Wildberries, OZON and Yandex.Market. Farid Abdulganiev explained why Internet platforms are chosen in Tatarstan. First, a good location-half of the Russian population lives within a radius of 1000 kilometers from Kazan. Secondly, the strong economy of the Republic - at the end of 2018, Tatarstan's GRP amounted to 2.44 trillion rubles, 13% of it is accounted for by wholesale and retail trade. At the same time, retail trade turnover at the end of 2018 in monetary terms amounted to 917 billion rubles. According to statistics, the share of e-Commerce in Tatarstan is 1.3%, which is almost comparable with the figures in Russia as a whole

According to the head of the RT Ministry of economy, both companies have chosen Zelenodolsk PSEDA as the location for their logistics centers. The presence of these marketplace giants in the region will further improve the investment climate and open new market niches for local entrepreneurs. Including self-employed: as part of the pilot project on the introduction of a new tax regime in Tatarstan, more than 30 thousand people have been registered.

"Our task is to offer business a clear development plan within the framework of a full-fledged strategy of state support for e-commerce, which the President of the Republic instructed to develop. The Ministry of economy already has sufficient expertise and proposals to bring Tatarstan entrepreneurs to new markets, including export through online trade channels", commented Farid Abdulganiev.