France hopes to increase trade and investment in Venezuela

[Judi Lynn]

CARACAS, Wednesday March 25, 2009
France hopes to increase trade and investment in Venezuela
The French envoy is visiting Caracas to enhance trade relations


Anne Marie Idrac, the French Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, confirmed on Wednesday her country’s interest in further investing and enhancing trade with Venezuela in the energy, transport and education areas, among others.

Idrac, who will be on visit to Caracas until Thursday, brought a message from President Nicolas Sarkozy to his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez, where the French government underlines "the importance of economic and trade relations and shows its desire to increase cooperation in several areas," the French diplomat told AFP.

Idrac recalled that one of the key points of the economic cooperation between the two countries is the Caracas subway, where the participation of French companies began in the 1970’s and continues to date with projects for overhauling and laying new subway lines. The Caracas subway is used every day by 1.5 million commuters in a city brought to a standstill by traffic bottlenecks.

http://english.eluniversal.com/2009/03/25/en_eco_esp_france-hopes-to-incr_25A2269443.shtml