RIYADH: The French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, traveled to Riyadh on Sunday to meet with Saudi ministers.
His visit, which saw him meet with the Saudi ministers of culture and energy, comes a day after he attended the Expo 2020 Dubai site in the UAE.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan received Le Drian at the ministry’s headquarters in Riyadh to review aspects of Saudi-French relations and ways to enhance them in various fields to serve the interests of the two friendly countries.
They also exchanged views on regional and international developments of common interest.
Le Drian also met with Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir.
Meanwhile, GCC Secretary-General Nayef Al-Hajraf stressed the importance of strengthening Gulf-French relations to serve common interests and enhance security and stability in the region.
His comments came during a meeting with delegations of the French National Assembly (parliament) on Sunday, headed by Jean-Louis Bourlanges, president of the parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and a representative from the Hauts-de-Seine region.
The delegation also included Françoise Dumas, chairwoman of the National Defense and Armed Forces Committee and a representative for the Gare region, and Christian Cambon, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces and senator for Val-de-Marne.
They discussed Gulf-French cooperation and relations and the need to work on strengthening them in various fields, especially security, economy, culture and science.
