Business & Money | Wednesday 27 July, 2016 7:08 am |

French Ambassador Bertrand Besancenot pledged his support for peace, stability and development of “Saudi-French friendship” at a forum on “Saudi French Military Contract” held in Riyadh on Monday.

The event held at the Ritz Carlton was patronized by the Vice Minister of Finance Saleh Al-Debassy, French Ambassador Bertrand Besancenot and Chairman of the Council of Saudi Chambers Abdul Rahman Al-Zamil in the presence of representatives from more than 60 Saudi and French companies.
The Saudi Ministry of Finance and French company ODAS jointly organized the Saudi-French forum dedicated to IKIP, acronym of “In Kingdom Industrial Partnership”.
“I warmly congratulate ODAS and all the actors who dedicated themselves to this successful event and made it possible. Saudi and French representatives of your group, side by side to engage new partnership, first step for development and shared confidence. On my side, I can assure you that France will assist you all, at the threshold of this new adventure, to reach the goals you’ll set up together for peace, stability and the development of the Saudi-French friendship,” the envoy said. 
Gen. Jean-Philippe Bonnet, general delegate of ODAS branch in Riyadh told Arab News that ODAS has been designated by both Saudi and French Authorities to run the contract called SFMC (as Saudi-French Military Contract) dedicated to provide the Royal Saudi Armed Forces with state-of-the-art weaponry. In that frame, more than 25 French companies are involved under the umbrella of ODAS, which plays the role of catalyst for the development of industrial cooperation within the Kingdom.
During this forum, more than 20 agreements were signed, showing the clear intention of the participants to fall within the framework of this long-lasting plan that had been disclosed recently. The French companies, under the aegis of ODAS, have presented more than 25 projects of industrial cooperation in topics as different as optics, electronics, systems integration, maintenance and training, among others.
“For sure, the SFMC running today according to the plan set up by both the Saudi and French authorities brings hope. It will allow our companies to set up new partnerships in all topics, long-lasting and fruitful, for the benefit and the diversification of the local economy and its local manpower,” Gen. Jean-Philippe Bonnet said.