Islamic analogue of the UN debarked youth troopers in Kazan

'The youth is less politicized part of the society'

The II Kazan OIC Youth Entrepreneurship Forum is different from the first one at least in two ways. First, if the previous time young businesspersons were only taught the art of drafting, this year they will have a chance to attract investors who would invest in their projects.

In total, the event involves 50 teams, each consists of two people. Moreover, among them there are not only representatives of the Muslim world, but also from the UK, Germany, Australia and other countries. The organizers divided the forum into two parts. The first one will be called the Summer International Youth Camp, in the framework of which there will be trainings organized by Tatarstan and international experts — the participants will be taught the art of presentation of their projects. As a result there will be 15 teams selected out of 50. They will be the participants of the second part of the forum START-UP EXPO and will present their projects at the Kazan Summit, and therefore, they will have an opportunity to find a potential investor. However, Timur Suleymanov noted in a conversation with journalists that if there are more high-quality projects, 16 or 17 works will be presented to the jury of experts. The main selection criterion should be the quality of the projects and, besides, the five best works will be considered by RT President Rustam Minnikhanov, as well as by other Tatarstan officials and businesspersons.

Elmaddin Mekhdiyev: 'The youth is less politicized part of the society. Political problems will be solved later – it is what they believe in the Youth organization of Turkey. I see that similar sentiments prevail in the Russian youth associations as well.'

The second peculiarity of the current Youth Entrepreneurship Forum is that it is held in the conditions when Russia turned out to be a party of the Syrian conflict. We would like to note that the forum organizers are the government of Tatarstan and the OIC Youth Forum. Nevertheless, the Chief Executive of the Secretariat of the OIC Youth Forum Elmaddin Mekhdiyev, who came from Istanbul, in conversation with the correspondent of Realnoe Vremya stressed that the political situation was not a barrier either for his visit or for the holding of the forum in Kazan.

'The youth is less politicized part of the society. Political problems will be solved later – it is what they believe in the Youth organization of Turkey. I see that similar sentiments prevail in the Russian youth associations as well. The political problems do not affect the relationships among the youth and the youth activities,' said Mekhdiyev and, paraphrasing Pushkin, called Tatarstan Russia's 'window to Asia'.

'Good morning, khayerle irte, salam alaykum, dobroe utro'

The official opening of the Forum in IT-Park was attended by a deputy of the State Council of Russia of the sixth convocation Marat Bariev, the Chief Executive of the Tatarstan Investment Development Agency Taliya Minullina, the Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs and Sport of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Garifullin, the Chief Executive of the Secretariat of the OIC Youth Forum Elmaddin Mekhdiyev, the director of IT-Park Anton Grachyov, the chairperson of the Russian Union of Youth Pavel Krasnoretsky. The role of the moderator who presented the guests was taken by the project manager of the fund Selet Timur Suleimanov.

The emphasis was put on the development of innovative technologies in Tatarstan: the speakers mentioned about this several times, and before the opening of the Forum the participants had a tour to Tatarstan Silicon valley— Innopolis. Taliya Minullina, who positioned herself as the youngest representative of the government of Tatarstan, decided to demonstrate how lucky the younger generation is on an example from her life.

Minullina noted that the current generation can be considered lucky though because it can compare today's world using the Internet with the world without the Internet

'When I was a kid and I was 5 or 8 years, there was no Internet at all. For me, the Internet has become a large encyclopedia. The parents showed me this encyclopedia and said, 'Every time you need information, open it and look for,' shared Minullina and noted that the current generation can be considered lucky though because it can compare today's world using the Internet with the world without the Internet.

Marat Bariev distinguished himself by the fact that he began his speech with greetings in four languages.

'Good morning, khayerle irte, salam alaykum, dobroe utro. Dear friends, I am pleased to welcome you in the hospitable city Kazan. The Fund Selet, which is represented by Timur Suleymanov, more than 10 years ago became the first member from Russia of the OIC Youth Forum,' he said and stressed that the priority for Tatarstan is IT industry.

The robot for collecting reviews and impressions about Russia

After the high-ranking guests left, the forum began its work in a very relaxed format. The young entrepreneurs have been offered the workshop on acquaintance: each of them had to find among the colleagues a co-thinker, filling in the table. We decided to ask what projects the contestants will present and whether it is true that the political situation has not affected their participation in the forum.

For example, Ayana Aliyeva from Kyrgyzstan said that her team has invented a mobile application where users can tell about their hobbies and even earn money by conducting virtual workshops.

The young entrepreneurs have been offered the workshop on acquaintance: each of them had to find among the colleagues a co-thinker, filling in the table

Emad Khonopravar from Iran will present a project of an intelligent robot that will collect the reviews and comments of Internet users about a particular event, including written in social networks. Thus, according to the contestant, it will be possible to obtain a more objective view, a kind of analytical digest, for example, about the Kazan Summit, because not only the organizers will tell about it but also participants from all over the world.

'For a long time we had close cooperation, at the government level, as well as between residents of different countries. I'm not a political person, but I think that there is a strong bond between two nations and two cultures,' told Khonopravar to the question of the attitude of his country to Russia in light of recent events.

Umad Bin Kushem from Malaysia said that the project which he represents is called 'Be my voice'. It is primarily designed for people with disabilities: his program can translate the text in the language of signs. According to him, everyone sees Russia differently, for him it is associated with Kazan, which is attractive to him because, firstly, here there are many Muslims, and secondly, due to the implementation of projects such as IT Park or Innopolis.