France, Syria sign 11 agreements to boost relations - Summary

Damascus - France and Syria signed 11 cooperation agreements Saturday during the visit of French Prime Minister Francois Fillon to Damascus. The deals were signed after Fillon met with his Syrian counterpart Mohammad Naji al-Otri to discuss ways of boosting economic relations between the two countries.

"The visit of the French Prime Minister to Syria comes to mark a new stage of cooperation between Syria and France," al-Otri said after their meeting.

The agreements aim at bolstering ties in agriculture, civil aviation, culture and administrative cooperation. The bilateral trade is estimated to be around 800 million euros.

Al-Otri also called on French companies to expand their investments and engage in tourism projects in Syria, as well as the development projects in energy, oil, gas, transportation and public services.

Fillon, who is the first French Prime Minister to visit Syria in more than three decades, said that his country is keen on achieving fruitful cooperation with Damascus.

The French prime minister was accompanied by French Economic Minister Christine Lagarde and Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand for the 24-hour visit, along with a delegation of top businessmen.

On Friday, Fillon met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to discuss the political developments in the region and the stalled peace process.

During the talks, al-Assad highlighted "the need for European countries to assume an active role to force Israel to commit to the requirements of peace."

The meeting was attended by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem as well as the delegation accompanying Fillon.

Syrian-French relations have witnessed growing development since al-Assad visited Paris in July 2008 and French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Syria a couple of months later.

Fillon will head to Jordan late on Saturday, where he is due to hold talks on Sunday.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/310334,france-syria-sign-11-agreements-to-boost-relations--summary.html.