Egyptian Premier Qandil meets French FM

Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil met here on Tuesday with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who is now visiting Egypt. During the meeting, they discussed the latest political and economic developments. Qandil said that the biggest challenge facing the Egyptian economy is the budget deficit, which calls for a series of economic reforms. Qandil said that the government works hard to encourage the French companies and investors to take advantage of the investment opportunities in Egypt to support the economy and provide job opportunities for young people. He added that the government is committed to address all the problems faced by French companies, in addition to the return of French tourism to its normal value. For his part, the French foreign minister said that the relations between Egypt and France is deep rooted in all areas, as the volume of trade exchange between the two countries is 3.16 billion Euros, adding that France has ranked sixth among international trading partners to Egypt. Fabius said that the volume of direct investments reached 342 million Euros during the fiscal year 2010-2011, pointing out that Egypt ranks third in the French investments. Fabius who flew into cairo earlier Monday on a two-day visit , reviewed with arab league secretary general dr. nabil al arabi the latest developments in the region with a special emphasis on the syrian crisis and arab and international initiatives made to resolve it along with the palestinian issue. The talks also touched on the mission of the UN-Arab League joint Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Al-ibrahimi and the talks he held with Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and other senior officials there.