Abu Dhabi: Several new joint initiatives, especially in the education sector, will make the existing strong and long-standing partnership between France and the UAE more dynamic, according to a top French diplomat.
Both nations are soon expected to sign an agreement on mutual recognition of educational qualifications, which will help promote young talents from both nations, Ludovic Pouille, French Ambassador to the UAE, told Gulf News.
“The cooperation in education is very vast with unique achievements such as the decision of the Emirati authorities to reintroduce French in the curriculum of the UAE public schools, the launching of the France Alumni platform in the UAE in May 2018 and [the upcoming agreement on qualifications],” he said. “This cooperation is dynamic thanks to [many] active actors.”
He said the Institut Français in the UAE [the cultural department of the French Embassy], a new board of Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, a network of six French schools and two Alliance Française [the organisation promoting French language and culture] branches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi play an active role in this regard.
The envoy spoke to Gulf News on the occasion of French National Day, which is celebrated on Saturday.
Around 30,000 French residents in the UAE constitute the largest French community in the Middle East.
This young and active community is working in many areas of economic life in the UAE, Pouille said.
“The UAE and France are exploring together new frontiers, even beyond our planet,” the ambassador said.
In the space sector, the Centre National d’études spatiales [National Centre for space studies, CNES] and the UAE Space Agency will enhance their cooperation. The CNES will post a permanent counsellor in Abu Dhabi to assist the UAE agency, he said.
“The aim of the French Embassy in the UAE is to enhance France as a primary destination to study, invest, innovate and, of course, visit. That’s why I am thrilled to see that more Emiratis decide to travel to France and hope that the trend will go on,” Pouille said.
About 173,000 French tourists visited Dubai till May end this year, which represented an increase of 17 per cent, compared to the same period last year, he said.
Abu Dhabi has witnessed a 27.2 per cent increase in the number of French tourists in February 2018, compared to the same period last year, undoubtedly a result of the opening of Louvre museum in November 2017, the envoy said.
The bilateral cooperation in civil nuclear power [at the level of private companies] and health is also improving with the creation of a France-UAE task force as a result of the last session of the strategic dialogue between two countries, Pouille said.
Dh19.3b bilateral trade enhances ties
The UAE is the second largest trading partner of France in the Gulf, with the bilateral trade at €4.5 billion (Dh19.30 billion) in 2017, Ludovic Pouille, French Ambassador to the UAE, told Gulf News.
Last year, the French exports to the UAE reached €3.4 billion, while imports from the UAE to France were worth €1.09 billion, he said.
The UAE is home to more than 650 subsidiaries of French companies, in every strategic sector of the UAE economy, such as aviation, space, renewable energy, urban transport, industry, banking, insurance and hospitality, Pouille said.
On the occasion of the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to the UAE, the French – UAE Business Forum held its first meeting on November 9, 2017 in Dubai, he said.
The second edition of the forum will take place in October this year in Paris, which will help boost the bilateral economic relations between the two countries. Along with French Tech — which has its only hub in the region in Dubai — the French participation in Expo 2020 will also enhance the technological cooperation, the envoy said.
