Economic diplomacy

Within the framework of economic diplomacy, M. Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development, has appointed three special representatives for economic relations with Canada, South Africa and Australia.

M. Jean-Paul Herteman, Chairman and CEO of the Safran Group since 2011, has been appointed special representative for economic relations with Canada. Safran has nearly 1,200 employees in Canada in seven companies, including three industrial sites in Quebec and Ontario. M. Herteman will use his expertise to strengthen our economic relations with Canada.

M. Robert Hue, former Chairman of the Senate’s France-South Africa Friendship Group, has been appointed special representative for relations with South Africa. M. Robert Hue, who is very familiar with South Africa, will be responsible for strengthening our bilateral strategic partnership, notably by fostering trade between our two countries in the energy, transport and agrifood sectors.

Mr Ross McInnes has been appointed special representative for relations with Australia. Mr McInnes, who has dual French and Australian citizenship, is due to take over as chairman of Safran in April 2015. As a special representative, he will use his knowledge of Australia to strengthen our bilateral trade and promote France’s attractiveness to Australian investors.

These are all voluntary positions./.