JEDDAH: French President Nicolas Sarkozy is scheduled to visit the Kingdom today. He will meet Custodian of Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and discuss bilateral relations besides regional and international issues of mutual concern, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
On his first trip to the region since taking office, Sarkozy visited Saudi Arabia at the beginning of a three-nation Gulf tour early this year.
The French president, who described the Kingdom as a “strategic partner in the region” and a “bridge between the East and the West” during an interview with an Arabic newspaper before his first visit, seeks to take the strategic ties between the two countries to new heights.
“My relationship with King Abdullah is based on trust and confidence,” Sarkozy said in the interview.
He mentioned that he shared similar viewpoints on a wide range of regional and international issues with King Abdullah.
The French president praised the economic reforms initiated by the Saudi government in the past few years and said Saudi diplomacy never ceased to act as a “mediator of peace” in the region.
Sarkozy had earlier mentioned that French corporations were capable of meeting the demands of the Saudi market.
He particularly mentioned the areas of transport and energy in which French companies seek to build active partnerships with Saudi companies.
Saudi Arabia is France’s No. 2 trading partner in the region and trade between the two countries is rapidly increasing. France is the Kingdom’s eighth ranking supplier.
More than 60 French companies are already established in Saudi Arabia and are contributing to the Saudi economic boom. These companies are benefiting from the open economic policy introduced by the Saudi authorities.
