France to help Pakistan strengthen power sector: envoy

Anil Datta
Sunday, February 17, 2013
From Print Edition

Karachi

Terming France-Pakistan ties in all spheres of activity highly satisfactory, Philippe Thiebaud, Ambassador of France to Pakistan, presently in town in connection with the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF), said France would be helping Pakistan bolster its power sector and mitigate the crippling power crisis.

Talking to The News in his hotel suite on Saturday evening, he said France would explore the possibility of assisting Pakistan in the hydel power sector and undertake those projects in the sector that would be accomplished quickly as well as help the country overcome the power imbroglio in the shortest possible period as much as possible.

Thiebaud said France would endeavour to see to it that the projects were such that could be accomplished quickly so that Pakistan might not have to grapple with those years-long gestation periods.

He said that while most of these projects would be undertaken under the umbrella of the French government, there would be some under the aegis of the European Community, as Europe had made big progress in the field of alternative energy like wind power, tidal power and other unconventional methods. As for the overall ties, he said they left nothing to be desired.

He cited President Asif Ali Zardari’s visit to France in December 2012 and his meetings with French President François Hollande, and later with Hollande and former UK prime minister Gordon Brown concerning Malala Yousafzai. The talks were basically centred on education, he said.

Thiebaud said, “We have a multifaceted relationship with Pakistan.” Talking about bilateral trade, he said the volume of trade between the two countries in 2011-2012 was $1.3-1.4 billion.

Pakistan enjoyed a trading surplus with France, exporting leather and sports goods and other miscellaneous unfinished goods, he added.

He said there were 14 French companies that had invested in Pakistan in the field of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and cited the Sanofi group. He said there were 180 French companies that were members of the Pakistan France Business Alliance.

As for cooperation in the education sector, he said the two countries were cooperating at the university level whereby 600 Pakistani students would be admitted to the higher seats of learning in France after they had finished study at home at the graduate or the postgraduate level.

He said another scheme was that of need-based scholarships. This, he said, entailed grant of French scholarships to students from the not-so-affluent background, belonging to relatively less developed areas like the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Balochistan and other remote areas of the country.

These students would be helped acquire admission to the higher seats of learning in Pakistan and the French government would finance their studies, he added. Thiebaud said France’s collaboration with Pakistan was evident from its support for and cooperation in the conducting of the KLF.

He had a special word of praise for Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director, Oxford University Press Pakistan for her dynamism and her contribution to the advancement of literary activity in the country. “That’s what qualified her for the highest literary and cultural award of France.”

Apart from education, he said, Saiyid had also played a major role in promoting trade and economic ties with European countries during her tenure as president of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce & Industry. He said that it was during her tenure that French international cosmetics giant L’Oréal had come to Pakistan.
 Source: thenews.com.pk