Kurdistan Regional Government
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Prime Minister Salih meets France’s foreign minister, speaks at first Kurdistan trade conference in Paris

FRI, 23 DEC 2011 18:20 | KRG.org

Paris, France (KRG.org) – Prime Minister Barham Salih on 14th December concluded a visit to Paris, where he met Foreign Minister Alain Juppé and spoke at the first Kurdistan trade conference to be held in France.

Prime Minister Salih and Mr Juppé discussed how to increase trade between France and the Kurdistan Region. They also exchanged views on the tumultuous events in the Middle East including Syria, as well as Kurdistan’s relations with its neighbours Iran and Turkey. The Prime Minister said that he welcomed France’s policy of supporting the democratisation of the Middle East.

At the Kurdistan trade conference hosted by Medef (Mouvement des Entreprises de France), France’s largest employers’ association with 700,000 member companies, Dr Salih and France’s Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Pierre Lellouche addressed the audience. The conference was chaired by Mr Bruno Lafont, President and Director General of the multinational cement company Lafarge.

At the Senate, France’s upper chamber of parliament, Prime Minister Salih was welcomed by Senator Bernard Cazeau, President of the Senate’s France-Iraq Group, and Senator Aymeri de Montesquiou.

Prime Minister Salih’s visit brings to a new level the bilateral relationship with France and builds on President Barzani’s visit to Paris over a year ago. strengthening the Kurdistan Region’s long friendship with France. The Kurdistan Region has had a long and close friendship with France, which gave humanitarian support to the Kurds in their bleakest times, and in June last year they signed an MOU on increasing cooperation in many spheres.


The Prime Minister had dinner with Dr Bernard Kouchner, the former Foreign Minister. In the 1980s Dr Kouchner, who was then the Head of the international NGO Doctors Without Borders, helped to save many lives in Kurdistan when it was under Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship. Dr Ghassan Salamam, the former Lebanese Cultural Minister, was among the guests at the dinner.

The KRG Representation in Paris hosted a reception in the Prime Minister’s honour where he met members of France’s Kurdish community. Iraq’s Ambassador to France Mr Fareed Yasseen hosted a lunch for him with several foreign diplomats and French parliamentarians also attending.

Prime Minister Salih and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Minister for Higher Education Dr Dlawer Ala’aldeen met Kurdish students who are on postgraduate and doctoral scholarships in France, to learn about their progress and challenges. The KRG, which is committed to helping Kurdistan’s people to develop their skills, has allocated 100 million US dollars a year to the scholarship programme. Accompanied by the Chairman of the Investment Board Minister Herish Muharam, he also met the Head of France’s Investment Board.

The Prime Minister’s delegation included other KRG ministers who spoke at the trade and investment conference and met French companies and government officials: Minister for the Interior Karim Sinjari, Minister for Trade and Industry Sinan Celebi, and the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Jamil Suleiman Haider.

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