JEDDAH: French expatriates celebrated their country’s national day at a ceremony hosted by their Consul General Issa Maraut at his residence on Sunday night. Aside from French Ambassador Bertrand Besancenot, a large number of officials, diplomats and businessmen were among those present.
Speaking to Arab News, the ambassador said that relations between the two countries were excellent and had received a boost with the visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to Paris in June 2007.
“A lot has been achieved in the Saudi-French relationship. A spirit of trust and friendship was immediately established between the two heads of state, and close consultations exist on all political issues. An agreement institutionalizing this process was signed during the visit to Riyadh by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in January 2008, as well as other agreements on energy and education.”
A new agreement was signed between the ministers of interior in February 2008, “and we have excellent perspectives in the fields of military and armament cooperation,” the ambassador said. This year, he added, French companies won major contracts in the Kingdom including Total for the Jubail refinery, Alstom for the extension of Shuaiba electric plant, Airbus with Saudia and NAS, Veolia for Riyadh’s water framework, Suez for Jeddah’s water framework, and Aeroport de Paris International for Jeddah’s airport.
“Bilaterally, our trade relations are expanding,” he said. The balance of trade remains in favor of the Kingdom as in 2007 French exports to the Kingdom were $2 billion and French imports from the Kingdom were $4 billion.
“French exports to the Kingdom have increased by 30 percent for the first months of 2008, which clearly shows that French companies are keen to develop their partnership with Saudi counterparts,” he said.
