French diplomat to attend From Brest to Brest forum in Paris

MINSK, 4 June (BelTA) – Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Belarus Michel Raineri will take part in the forum “From Brest to Brest: a New Investment Route” that is due at the MEDEF International headquarters in Paris on 6 June, BelTA learnt from the French diplomatic mission in Belarus.

Attending the event will be nearly 30 big French companies as well as representatives of state organizations and various associations of France.

The forum envisages meetings of Economy Minister of Belarus Nikolai Snopkov and Finance Minister Andrei Kharkovets with the French companies that demonstrate interest in cooperation with Belarus. Opportunities of investing in Belarus will be presented by the Belarusian legal firm and the administration of the Belarusian-Chinese industrial park.

Contacts with MEDEF International were established in 2007 following the initiative of the French embassy in Belarus. The first big delegation of the heads of French companies came to Minsk in 2009. The Belarusian delegation paid a return visit to Paris in 2010. The delegation was led by First Vice Premier Vladimir Semashko. The parties signed the agreement on cooperation between MEDEF International and the Belarusian Confederation of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.

The Embassy of France hopes that contacts between France and Belarus would be fruitful and make the basis for mutually beneficial long-term relations in both trade and investment.

The Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF) unites over 800,000 French big, medium and small enterprises representing various sectors (industry, trade and services). The major objective of MEDEF International is lobbying for French companies at every level and advancing their activity abroad. Every year MEDEF International organizes more than 120 meetings with heads of state and government, top executives and private foreign decision makers, holds 20 to 30 visits for French business leaders with concrete projects to the priority countries.