During an interview with Arab News, he highlighted the extraordinary exhibition of some 300 Saudi archaeological artifacts in the Louvre last year, entitled “Routes of Arabia.”
How would you describe Franco-Saudi relations at present?
Franco-Saudi relations are excellent and brimming with confidence. Of course it is the embassy in Riyadh that deals first and foremost with political relations. But here in Jeddah, we have also been fully witness to the excellent climate in our commercial, economic and cultural exchanges, especially during the many visits of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdulllah to the city. Indeed, we no longer count the bilateral visits that take place at the highest level.
The President of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, has visited Saudi Arabia three times since taking up office in September 2008. Visits at ministerial level are endless. As recently as June 11, Christine Lagarde, France’s former minister of economy and now managing director of the IMF, visited Jeddah to press her candidacy for the leadership of the organization. Need I remind you that the Saudis supported her candidacy and backed a woman to head the organization — the first time in the history of any major international institution?
On the cultural level, I would like to bring to your attention a major event that we organized with our Saudis friends. You must remember the extraordinary exhibition of some 300 Saudi archaeological artifacts in the Louvre last year, entitled “Routes of Arabia.”
This was an event of the greatest importance — the first time works from all periods of the Arabian Peninsula’s history were presented at the Louvre and then worldwide.
French exports to Saudi Arabia rose enormously in 2010. Traditionally, luxury goods accounted for a major slice of those exports. Where else has the growth come from?
In 2010, trade between our country and Saudi Arabia increased by 37 percent, and our exports to Saudi Arabia increased by 55 percent to reach a record level of 3.9 billion euros. French exports increased particularly in the aeronautical sector. The reason for this is that Saudi Arabia is going through a sustained period of economic development. It benefits from high government spending that supports the country’s needs through imports. Many of France’s industries have gained from this, notably in sales of equipment, pharmaceuticals, perfumes and metal products. Exports of food products saw a remarkable growth — up 42 percent.
You have been here for three years now. During this period, the consulate has played a high-profile role on the culture front. What effect has that had?
We have sought to diversify French culture on offer here in Jeddah. Of course, we work in close cooperation with the cultural services at the embassy in Riyadh. I would certainly not want to give the impression that we take all the credit for what is a huge collective effort. On an almost monthly basis, we have been able to present a fairly wide range of events — classical music (including recitals, piano and flute, operas) and contemporary music including the recent visit to the France consular residence by a very talented French singer, Marie-Paule Belle, intended largely for students at the French school. But we are also proud to have achieved over the last two years in Jeddah a program of “artists in residence” — inviting first, in January 2010, the French painter Ronan Olier and then this year a woman photographer, Anne de Henning. Both were invited to Saudi Arabia to create a number of works. These have been, or will be, exhibited in Paris. Conversely, we have invited Saudi artists to stay in France and benefit from their visits.
And in the economic sector?
In the economic field, we opened an office last September “Ubifrance” in Jeddah, whose mission is to assist French companies in their export efforts. We regularly welcome representatives of French companies to come and, with our help, “test” the Saudi market. I am personally very impressed with the way this body is operating. In coordination with its parent office in Riyadh, it enables us to link in directly with Saudi business — which is essential if we are to develop new markets.
The French Consulate General is, after that of the US, the largest of non-Muslim countries. Like other European states, will France not have to cut the costs? Can the Jeddah consulate avoid this, especially now that it no longer deals with visas?
Our Consulate General in Jeddah is one of the largest we have in this part of the world, excluding our historically important presence in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. In fact, there has been a consular presence in Jeddah since the middle of the 19th century for reasons already evident at the time — the pilgrimage to Makkah. During the Haj period, we welcome to Jeddah around 30,000 pilgrims from France that is greater than the number of pilgrims from Tunisia and Morocco combined. Besides this essential part of our work, the consulate is responsible for over 2,300 French citizens who are registered with us and living and working in a consular district as large as Egypt. And if I have to add one more point to convince you, our visa service annually deals with about 52,000 visas that puts Jeddah among the top French consulates-general in the world.
Our business is highly diversified and our “mission” here in Jeddah is to further extend exchanges with Saudi Arabia in every field and promote our presence. For this we have a team entrusted to me to lead, which I hope I do with energy and conviction under the authority of our ambassador in Riyadh.
What else do you hope to achieve here?
Jeddah is an exciting post. It is demanding and diverse. I often tell those who ask me about my experiences here in Saudi Arabia that it’s probably the most enriching one I have had so far. Saudi Arabia is a country that is changing. It is on the move, determined to modernize itself. KAUST, a great university focused on science and technology, is a major example of that. We French want to support this movement and be a partner in it.
I’m not so immodest as to want to give the impression that I have been behind all that the Consulate-General has been doing to this end. The truth is that this has been a collective effort of ours here in Saudi Arabia, especially in Jeddah. Our teams are mobilized for the job. We want to give our best,
And we want to change the stereotype of a France that is seen as just the Riviera and luxury goods to an image of what is, in reality, a major industrial nation, focused on the future, education, technology and training — but not forgetting the immense cultural offering that is ours and of which we are justly proud.
