By Gazette Staff: CAIRO, July 12, 2018- Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Wealth Tarek el-Molla met the Minister Counsellor for French Economic Affairs and Head of the French Economic Department for the Middle-East Jacques De Lajugie on Thursday. They discussed investment opportunities in the power sector, particularly in petroleum and natural gas, with a view to boosting their cooperation.. El-Molla stressed the depth of Egypt-France ties , praising the French President's support for the country's development efforts. He said that the economic and commercial ties between the two countries had made major progress since the early 80s . France, he said, is one of the key investors in Egypt. The mutual understanding of the political leadership of the two countries gives an extra boost to their further co-operation. The meeting also dealt with the activities of the French companies operating in petroleum and natural gas. On a positive note, Minister Molla said the investments of Italy's Edison and ENGIE witnessed remarkable increase. De Lajugie , for his part, described Egypt-France cooperation as ' constructive' and ' fruitful', stressing that the Egyptian market is one of France's most important external markets . In another development, Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad discussed with the French Ambassador to Egypt, StéphaneRomatet, discussed the means of enhancing the means of widening scope of joint co-operation in diverse environment domains, including solid waste management with the aim of turning it into energy. Minister Fouad emphasized the paramount importance of exchanging expertise with France in the light of France interest in climate change issues. It is worth mentioning that Egypt is to host 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD/COP 1) in Sharm El Sheikh during the period November 17-29. The French Ambassador, for his part, highlighted the French strategy of biodiversity in hopes of enhancing solid waste management in coastal areas.
