Russia Plans Visa-Free Travel for Arab Nations to Boost Tourism and Trade

On the sidelines of the 14th Russia-Islamic World Economic Forum in Kazan (800 kilometers east of Moscow), Mikhail Bogdanov, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Representative of the Russian President for the Middle East and Africa, announced on Thursday, May 18 that Russia is working on the abolition of the visa regime with Arab countries. "Work is underway. Overall, our intention is to abolish the visa regime. This is very important both for tourism and for business," he told reporters, noting that similar work is underway with Asian countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

"Overall, that’s the direction we’ll be going, we’ve already made a lot of progress. [...] Cooperation is going in this direction, with the Gulf countries. [...] With our traditional partners, Syria, Iraq and Egypt. Many things have already been done. And we expect there will be more," the Russian official continued.

The Russia-Islamic World Economic Forum (Kazan Forum) is considered the main platform for economic cooperation between the Russian Federation and the countries of the Islamic world. In total, 7,210 people from 85 countries and 84 regions of the Russian Federation have registered to participate, the organizers say.