French President Francois Hollande takes part in a sword dance (Al-Ardha) during his visit to historical Musmak Palace in Riyadh on Monday. At the end of the visit, the French president received a commemorative gift presented by Prince Sultan Bin Salman, President of Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities. – SPA Saudi Gazette report RIYADH – The Kingdom and France signed nine cooperation agreements between the public and private sectors in the two countries. Some of the agreements are in the fields of nuclear energy, information technology, sewage and waste material treatment, industrial cooperation, provision of smart water meters, and to build a plasma factory in the Kingdom. Addressing a joint gathering of Saudi and French business leaders at the headquarters of the Council of Saudi Chambers before leaving the Kingdom on Monday, French President Francois Hollande said that he has drawn up with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah a road map for Saudi-French relations. He urged businessmen of the two countries to benefit from the political will in order to strengthen the relations of cooperation in all fields. Two leading French companies – Areva and EDF – have signed a cooperation agreement with a number of Saudi universities to provide academic and training courses for Saudi students in the nuclear energy sector, he said. “My meeting with the King also focused on the necessity of cooperation in the field of renewable and clean energy in the wake of the Kingdom's move toward alternative energy sources and exploring the prospect of benefiting from the French expertise in this regard as well as in setting up major renewable energy projects. The talks also concentrated on cooperation in the food industry,” he said. Hollande, who was leading a delegation of four ministers and 30 top French business figures, assured that French industries can meet Saudi needs. Meanwhile, Minister of Finance Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf disclosed that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and European Union (EU) have gone a long way toward signing a free duty zone agreement between the two economic blocs, a move likely to boost trade and investment between Saudi Arabia and France on one hand and Saudi Arabia and other EU members on the other. In a statement on the sidelines of Hollande's meeting with Saudi business leaders, Al-Assaf reminded that France was the first to sign an agreement with the Kingdom to evade double taxation.
