Daily Press Briefing
Statements made by
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson
(excerpts)
(Paris, May 15, 2006)
[Please note that only the original French text issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be considered official.]
CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL COOPERATION
I’d like to recall that Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy held a press conference this morning on the topic, “France in the world: culture, the French language, education development.” The press dossier prepared for the event is on line on the Ministry’s website (france.diplomatie.gouv.fr).
I also want to remind you about the communiqué issued this morning about the partnership the Foreign Ministry has established with Thales to attract the best foreign students to do postgraduate work in France.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is establishing partnerships with private actors to increase France’s means of action on the international scene. It intends to rely in particular on French companies whose industrial and economic success, especially in the high-tech sector, are recognized world wide in order to attract the best foreign students to France’s universities and grandes écoles.
“The Thales group, a world leader in electronic systems for aerospace, defense and security, wished to join in this venture through its ‘Technology for Education and Youth’ sponsorship policy.
“Accordingly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Thales group jointly devised a raft of arrangements to host and support highly qualified foreign students. The convention that Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy and Thales Chairman and CEO Denis Ranque are signing on Monday, May 15, formalizes this collaboration. Starting in fall 2006, 24 students, the first in-take, from China and India will be arriving under the agreement.
“In the context of this program for high-level foreign students, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide the expertise of its cultural and scientific attachés to identify and select the best students with support from the Study-in-France Centers (CEF), based on criteria of excellence established between the partner schools, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Thales group. If needed, the students will receive intensive French-language courses at Alliances françaises. They will follow advanced specialized courses (engineering science or business administration) at a well-known French establishment.
“The Thales group, for its part, will give the students chosen a Thales Academia grant (a minimum of 10,000 euros per student per year depending on the length of the course) which will be in addition to the social security benefits financed by the Quai d’Orsay. They will also receive personal mentoring from a volunteer tutor from the Thales group. At the end of their studies, the students will have an internship with the company.
“The leading engineering and business schools (several schools in the ParisTech network, HEC and ESSEC) have pledged to host the students selected. Other establishments, universities and grandes écoles, may subsequently join the program.
“The partnership between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Thales group and French universities and grandes écoles, which increases their capacity for action by pooling resources and other assets, makes for the strength and originality of a program whose purpose is to attract the most talented students to France.”
Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy met this morning with Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir who is in Paris for the 150th anniversary of the Oeuvre d’Orient. During their meeting they discussed the achievements and the prospects for Lebanese national dialogue together with the pursuit of economic reforms in Lebanon.
They also discussed the implementation of resolution 1559 and the inquiry into Rafik Hariri’s assassination. The minister reaffirmed our support for Lebanon’s request for an extension of the mandate of the international commission of inquiry and our support for the establishment of an international tribunal to judge those responsible for this crime.
Xianglong Dai, Mayor of the Chinese city of Tianjin and former governor of the central bank of the People’s Republic of China, is visiting France from May 14 to 18, 2006.
He will be meeting with Dominique Perben, Minister for Transport, Capital Works, Tourism and Marine Affairs, and Christine Lagarde, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade. He will also meet with former president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, chairman of the France-China committee.
He will have a number of meetings with French businesses, including at an afternoon of exchanges at the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry on May 15.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is delighted to see that four films supported by Fonds Sud Cinéma appear in the official selection at the upcoming Cannes Festival that will be held from May 17 to 24:
- Summer Palace directed by Lou Ye, china (competition)
- Bamako directed by Abderrahmane Sissako, Mali (out-of-competition)
- Hamaca Paraguaya directed by Paz Encina, Paraguay (Un Certain Regard)
- Luxury Car directed by Wang Chao, China (Un Certain Regard)
Fonds Sud Cinéma, started in 1984, is designed to encourage film production in the developing countries. For over 20 years, nearly 350 projects from Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, central Asia and eastern Europe have had the benefit of production assistance. Several directors have gone on to acquire international stature (among them Walter Salles, Youssef Chahine, Rithy Panh). The aid is co-financed on a parity basis by the CNC (Ministry of Culture) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Q - What’s your reaction to the announcement that President Déby has been re-elected in Chad and to opposition criticism about the way the poll was held and the polemics over participation?
We have taken note of the results communicated by the electoral commission. As to how the voting took place, I refer you to what the African Union international observers said about it./.
Embassy of France, May 15, 2006