FRENCH MINISTER COMES FOR NUCLEAR PLANT AND HELICOPTER TENDER
By Ali Ihsan Aydin
Zaman Online, Turkey
June 14 2006
The French Foreign Trade minister is coming to Turkey to heal the
relations between two countries that were strained due to the so-called
Armenian Genocide bill.
The representatives of 25 of France’s biggest companies will also
accompany the minister.
Christine Lagarde is expected to discuss the nuclear plant, Marmaray
and the Turkish Armed Forces helicopter tenders.
Speaking to Zaman Daily, French Minister of Foreign Trade Lagarde
said that they would offer solid investments.
He also revealed that the two countries would sign a contract for the
encouragement of mutual investments: the first initiations of which
started on 2 September 1987.
Lagarde, one of the "most distinctive" ministers of the French
government, had moved to Paris in 2005 after resigning as the chair
of the board of directors at the American Baker&McKenzie, one of the
world’s leading international law firms.
The trade volume between Turkey and France is around $10 billion.
The 2005 figures revealed that France’s export figures totaled $5.9
billion, while import figures remained at $3.8 billion.
Around 300 French companies employ 40,000 people in Turkey.
"The Turkish market is very important for French investors. Last
year’s exports to Turkey grew by 11 percent.
This rate is double that of France’s general trade average. We
encourage our companies to invest in Turkey," said Lagarde, noting
that Turkey was the fifth largest consumer of French products outside
the EU region.
To cite an example, the French minister drew attention to the
investments of giant international French companies like Carrefour,
BNP Parisbas, Renault, Areva and Alsom.
While France was placed to top the countries to enter direct foreign
capital to Turkey, it drew 7th place in the list despite the growing
interest of French companies.
Of the total volume of foreign capital in Turkey, the volume of total
French capital that has entered the country is in the vicinity of
six percent.
>>From a group of 150 countries that import French products, the
French Foreign Ministry singled out 25 countries, including Turkey,
for exclusive efforts to improve trade with, said Lagarde.
Fourteen French companies are being briefed on the Turkish sectors of
transportation and distribution by UBIFRANCE, a French association
established to help French companies to expand into international
markets.
The French minister considers UBIFRANCE as a major source of
assistance.
Several French companies have been cooperating with Turkish companies
and/or institutions, such as OYAK, the Armed Forces Pension Fund.
It is "military" contracts that make up $4 billion of the $14 billion
deal that the French companies are looking to sign with the Turkish
companies.
The opposition Socialist Party last month opened for discussion a
bill in the French Parliament that would penalize the refusal to
acknowledge the so-called Armenian genocide.
Efforts by the government worked at ending the discussion and passing
of this motion.
The government stands firm in its opposition to the motion, a sign
that any future reiterations will follow the same line of argument in
the government should the motion ever comes before the legislation,
said Lagarde.
‘We have a chance in the nuclear tender’
Adjournment of talks over the motion gave "temporary" relief to French
companies active in the Turkish market, along with Eurocopter-the
French company that stands out as most likely to be granted late
this week an exclusive right to provide attack helicopters for the
Turkish army.
Ms. Lagarde classified nuclear energy as one of the safest energy
sources to obtain, and added that a clear presentation of the nature
of nuclear energy will help gain public approval of the project.
There were, in the past, serious reactions from the French public
against the use of nuclear energy, said Lagarde, and emphasized, "Well
and clearly conducted communications," as well as "intelligibility"
helped triumph over this reaction.
There is little doubt that Turkey’s non-government organizations will
act like their French counterparts in abandoning their opposition views
over the use of nuclear energy; and what is important is to convince
a large proportion of the public of the need for nuclear energy,
said the French minister when she emphasized the French experience
in overcoming public opposition.
France is one of the world’s leading countries actively involved in
the production of nuclear energy, said Ms. Lagarde, and classed the
kind of nuclear experiences that draws from specialization as unusual.