France mulls academic, trade ties with Goa

NT NETWORK
Posted on 2008-10-31
PANAJI - The French government is considering academic cooperation and business partnerships including PPPs with Goa. “To finalise some agreements with some educational institutions in the state so that more Goan students can study in France and French students could come to Goa, exchange more researchers and see more success stories in business partnerships in agro-business, infrastructure and tourism, all with a much bigger French cultural presence and ‘touch’”. This was how the Consul General of France and the Head of the Economic Mission, Mr Francois Pujolas, described the main goals of his first official ‘courtesy’ trip to Goa. The Consulate in Mumbai looks after Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa.
To further this effort, the French government is having a ‘French day’ in Goa early next year dedicated mainly to giving exposure to academics side with a touch of the French cultural side too. French companies would also be present then.
“We want to triple the number of Indian students in three years,” he said adding that right now there were only 1,500 students and hopefully have some business ventures especially in infrastructure as the French have a lot of expertise in that field. He also said that at present the trade with India was 6 billion euros and that they were all set to double it by 2012. “There are already around 500 French companies in the country,” he said. For this purpose the N plus I, a federation of 75 engineering schools in France had come together to increase the academic penetration in the country.
This year, there are a total of 400 registrations out of which there is one Goan student and there are 800 applications that would be scrutinised by the end of the year. Mr Pujolas said that the Escole Naval, a French polytechnic has regular interaction with the NIO with students coming to Goa to spend time there on a regular basis.
Stating that France was the biggest economy in Europe and with the just concluded 100 billion proposed trade agreement signed with the European Union he said that they were looking at possibilities of tying up with Goa in the field of tourism like marinas, hotels and more importantly in training in hotel management as the French had a lot of expertise in that.
He said that France is one of the biggest tourist destinations in the world and with a population of 60 million it draws a tourist population of 82 million. He said that France was also interested in academic exchanges between France and Goa especially in the engineering field and elaborated that there are courses in English, in France too. He said that the Allianz Francais was trying to work in close cooperation with colleges in the state to teach basic French to people who are interested in studying in France.
He said that he had met the Chief Secretary and would meet the Chief Minister and the Governor on Friday. He also informed that the Allianz Francais would be holding a photographic exhibition from Friday. He further said that the selected students would be given all facilities including visas and there were possibilities that French companies would absorb graduates if they fulfilled their profiles.