JEDDAH, 14 July 2006 — French people at home and abroad, including Saudi Arabia, are celebrating Bastille Day today.

French Consul General France Issa Marut talked about the mission’s various activities and the dynamic ties between France and Saudi Arabia.

France’s first diplomatic footprint in what is today Saudi Arabia was established in Jeddah in 1839, which, Marut says, is demonstrative of France’s longstanding relationship with the Kingdom.

The French missions in the Kingdom is involved in various cooperative cultural and educational activities, but Marut says the most important involves economic ties and facilitating coordination between French and Saudi companies and other institutions. French defense contractors are currently courting Saudi Arabia. Marut also points to lucrative opportunities in business ties in the development of the Kingdom’s new economic cities, such as the one in Rabigh.

There are negotiations going on in managing airports, highways and restoring the historical buildings in the old city of Jeddah. In February a group of French contractors for airport support services visited Jeddah to discuss opportunities with Saudi officials from the King Abdul Aziz International Airport.

Other exchanges included a recent trip by Saudis from Jeddah to tour Paris to discuss the French model of urban development. (Part of leftist Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe’s popularity has come about through his urban development policies, such as efforts to develop of the outer ring of the city proper, urban bike lanes, and attempts to curb pollution and vehicular traffic.) It was the first trip to once the world’s most cherished and beautiful cities for many of the Saudis.

“They saw for themselves the French concept of cultural development in downtown Paris and in its tiny alleys,” said Marut.

Locally, Marut pointed to a French-language society in Jeddah and the Saudi-French Center in Jeddah that conducts language classes. The center opened a women’s section for these courses in November 2005 and has an academic exchange program with the University of Leon for translation certification for women.

In an ongoing effort to promote French culture in the Kingdom, Jeddah’s Effat College for women will also be opening a French department next year. King Abdul Aziz University and the French National Center for Distance Learning (CNED) also signed an agreement to implement the French model for this type of education in the university’s College of Medicine.

Saudi student enrollment in France is relatively low, however. There are currently only 210 college students studying in France, mainly in the areas of medicine, law and architecture.

Marut points out that France is a secular country. Still, he says that one of the most important tasks of France’s consulate in Jeddah is providing assistance to French Muslims when they undergo their pilgrimages.

“After all, the Muslim population in France has reached approximately 5 million,” said Marut.

France’s Foreign Ministry had produced a brochure in Arabic and French to inform and enlighten the pilgrimages about Haj. This is something the Saudi government has been encouraging, considering many of the logistical and physical challenges of handling the world’s largest regular gathering of people.

“That shows the French government has care and interest in Haj affairs,” said Marut, who pointed out that during last Haj 27,000 French Muslims undertook the pilgrimage. The consul operates an office in Makkah during Haj in order to facilitate any issues French pilgrims may have.

France’s consulate in Jeddah serves the western part of the Kingdom.