Timur Utsoyev, Grozny. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
In November the Seventh Forum of mayors of the Great Silk Route cities took placein Turkish Gaziantep which is thought to be a treasury of ancient civilizations. Last year this prestigious event was held in Russia for the first time – in the Chechen capital Grozny. More than 100 mayors, political and social activists gathered in Grozny. Earlier the forum visited Uzbekistan, China, Kazakhstan, South Korea, and Iran.
This year representatives of the Chechen delegation spoke about improvement of Grozny as one of the centers of the Great Silk Route. According to them, today the capital of Chechnya turned into a purl of the Caucasus, and the city is ready to wide investments.
Returning from Turkey, the aide of Grozny’s mayor Ibragim Idilov told Vestnik Kavkaza that today social infrastructure of the Chechen capital is renewed; several factories and plants are working. The population of the city is growing rapidly: 6 thousand people per year. 1.1 million square meters of residential areas were put into exploitation in 2001-2010. “Today people in Grozny understand that successful socio-economic development of the city directly depends on an active investment policy. A series of investment projects with participation of foreign investments is being implemented. The most active businessmen are from South Korea, China, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and the UAE. According to the target program “Establishing of favorable conditions for attraction of investments into economy of the Chechen Republic for 2012-2014,” the whole volume of financing from the republican budget is about 1 billion rubles. Resources of municipal units will be involved too. It means a significant part of foreign investments will be insured by resources of the republican and municipal budgets. At the same time, the Grozny authorities plan attract $42 million foreign investments in 2012-2014,” Idilov said.
The Forum of mayors of the Great Silk Route cities unites representatives of business and civic organizations from various cities of the world. The main task of the forum is to influence future development of the cities, as well as to revive traditions of peaceful cooperation in Eurasia. According to Ibragim Idilov, experience of foreign countries shows that development of a competitive market and business atmosphere depends on minor business.
However, achievements of Grozny do not mean that all problems have been solved. The city economy will have to turn into export-oriented economy in the near future. The municipal authorities plan to focus on investments, innovations, export, and they hope to provide the residents with high social living standards.
The mayor of Gaziantep Ulk Deniz received a photo album with pictures of Grozny from the Chechen delegation, and he expressed his intention to develop cooperation between two cities, stating that the capital of Chechnya can be compared with Dubai by its skyscrapers.
The next forum of the mayors of the Great Silk Route cities will be held in Hungary.
