Rustem Khamitov told Arab News on the sidelines of the ongoing Jeddah Economic Forum that he has already spoken to local businesspeople about the possibility of them investing in the republic’s agricultural sector. He did not, however, say how far those talks have progressed.

He added that his main goal while in the Kingdom was to promote Bashkortostan, which is known for its oil and gas extraction and refining plants, to the Middle East.

“I was invited by the secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu) to visit the Kingdom. However, when we learned of the Jeddah Economic Forum, we decided to coincide our visit with the event instead,” he said.

“It has been very productive so far and we hope Saudis will come to invest in Bashkortostan.”

He added that even though the republic was the leading Russian region for oil refining and chemical production and had investment opportunities in these sectors in addition to agriculture, it had so much more to offer.

“We have major opportunities in medical tourism, particularly our spas,” he said.

“Bashkortostan has a lot of underground steam, and it is very good in healing illnesses related to the joints, such as arthritis. However, not many people know about this, particularly in the Middle East, and so we’re looking for investors to help us build more spas.”

He added that people who had trouble walking because of the pain in their joints were usually up and running with two to three weeks when treated in this way.

Khamitov noted that Bashkortostan has substantial tourist opportunities for Saudi visitors.

“Fifty-five percent of Bashkortostan is Muslim, which means there are plenty of opportunities for cultural exchange,” he said, adding that he was hoping to promote cooperation in education between the Kingdom and the republic.

“Bashkortostan has a very beautiful landscape. It has decent people and wonderful museums with gold and silver artefacts dating back 2,000 years ago. Islam came 1,000 years ago and we have many archaeological finds from that era.”

Khamitov added his surname came from the Arabic name Hamid. He said one of his forefathers was an imam, known as Hamid Mullah.

“I am very proud that my last name springs from the Arab world,” he said.

Khamitov also spoke of his happiness at being able to perform Umrah during his stay in Jeddah, which is expected to finish Monday when he returns home. He started his four-year term as president last year.

Bashkortostan is located between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains, southwest of Russia. Its capital is Ufa and has a population of more than 4 million people.