DIT in Tatarstan - Enterprise Ireland and Embassy of Ireland Trade Mission

DIT took part in the recent Enterprise Ireland and Embassy of Ireland Trade Mission to Tatarstan in March.

The mission was led by H.E Ambassador Philip McDonagh and was timed to coincide with a number of Irish cultural events in Kazan for the city’s “Days of Europe” celebrations.


Tatarstan is approximately the same size as Ireland is terms of territory and population, and is one of the most developed regions in Russia coupled with a wealth of natural resources. Key industries are oil and petrochemicals; aerospace; machine building; and the manufacture of its world famous KAMAZ trucks.


These sectors operate in tandem with newly emerging sectors such as: construction; ICT; agriculture/food processing; and its burgeoning service sector. Tatarstan has also been very successful in attracting foreign direct investment to its Elabuga Special Economic Zone, and is consistently voted one of the best places in Russia to do business.


Kazan itself is a dynamic, rapidly developing industrial, scientific and trading centre. In 2005, Kazan celebrated its 1000th year anniversary, with its Kremlin being named a UNESCO world heritage site. In 2013, Kazan will host the Universiade (formerly the World Student Games) and has commenced a huge build-out of sports stadia and facilities, including an Olympic Village.

Building on previous visits to Kazan in February, DIT met with a number of institutions and the Tatarstan Ministry of Education to discuss possible cooperation. DIT signed a number of MOUs with Tatarstan institutions exploring future collaboration including Kazan State Technological University, Kazan State Technical University, the Institute of Economics, Management and Law and the Academy of State and Municipal Management.

(Pictured: Marie O'Flynn, DIT, H.E Ambassador Philip McDonagh and Rector A Vershov, Academy of State and Municipal Management (Under the President of Tatarstan) )

DIT represented by Marie O’Flynn, School of Accounting and Finance and Terry Battles, International Affairs also met with Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Andrey Pominov, and representatives from the Ministry of Education who outlined the development focus of Tatarstan and the Algarysh Scholarship Programme.

DIT will be making regular visits to Tatarstan in the next year and updates on when we will travel to Kazan can be found on our blog. For further information on DIT activities in Tatarstan please contact terry.battles@dit.ie

Kazakhstan IQ Games visit DIT

International Affairs were delighted to welcome Sergey Pyachshik and his crew from the IQ Games, Kazakhstan to DIT in March. The Kazakhstan Television project in association with Nursultan Nazarbaev Education Foundation spent a number of days filming their quiz and special video postcards on Dublin to air on Kazakh TV this autumn.

Three teams of DIT students took part in the Kazakhstan based quiz show “The IQ Games” on the 18th of March. The television show, also translated as “The Intellectual Olympics”, is one of Kazakhstan's most popular television programmes and features teams of three students competing in a quiz based on lateral thinking.

The regular programme features students from Kazakhstan competing for an education scholarship, but special editions of the show have feature competitions between Kazakhstan and an international selection of colleges.

As part of a European tour, the show arrived in Ireland just in time to sample the atmosphere of St. Patrick's Day. The crew filmed Dublin ‘postcards’ that will also be used throughout the series.

The DIT teams fared quite well in the competition, with two teams just shy of claiming maximum points. The result of the quiz will not be known until the filming of the Kazakh leg of the competition, but fingers crossed for a DIT win.

Though there was occasional confusion due to translation, the DIT students agreed it was an enjoyable once in a life time experience. The show was filmed in the Mansion House in Dublin by the touring Kazakhstan based film crew. The Lord Mayor hosted a reception for Kazakh students studying in Dublin that evening in the Mansion House. Well-known Kazakh singers Diana Shik and Alisher Karimov performed for the Lord Mayor and students.

Tim, a Fourth year Tourism and Hospitality Marketing student (originally from Kazakhstan) worked with International Affairs hosting the crew.

"It was an amazing experience! It was a great chance to show Ireland to the IQ Games crew and for DIT students to find out more about Kazakhstan.

All the Kazakh students in Dublin also really enjoyed the ‘visit from home...It will be great to see DIT and Dublin on Kazakh TV!”

Report by Frankie Whelan.