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