On March 9, the MEREF and Business France in Lebanon signed a partnership agreement at the Residence des Pins, in the presence of French Ambassador Emmanuel Bonne.
The Movement of French Enterprises and Economic Representations in Lebanon (MEREF) – www.meref.org – brings together French and Lebanese companies wishing to contribute to strengthening economic ties between France and Lebanon, and beyond Lebanon in the entire region.
Business France is the French agency serving the internationalization of the French economy. It works closely with the Regional Economic Service at the French Embassy.
The agreement signed on March 9 aims to strengthen the existent partnership between the MEREF and Business France Lebanon. It sets out cooperation modalities and defines operational complementarities to better support the development of companies and meet their expectations.
In his address, French Ambassador Emmanuel Bonne indicated that “the signature [of this agreement] is a landmark moment of French economic diplomacy in Lebanon”. He added that “MEREF fits fully in the institutional landscape around the embassy and complements the structure composed of the Beirut Regional Economic Service, Business France, the Lebanon section of the Foreign Trade Advisors of France and the Franco-Lebanese Chamber of Commerce”.
The Director of Business France in Lebanon Henri Castorès deemed the cooperation with MEREF as “rich, dense and varied. It translates into a mutual desire to work together in a fruitful, constructive and coordinated manner”. He defined this complementarity by “upstream discovery or promoting the attractiveness of France for Business France, and supporting the implementation and animation of the business community in Lebanon for the MEREF”.
MEREF President and ESA Director General Stéphane Attali thanked the French Ambassador and the staff of the embassy, the Beirut Regional Economic Service and Business France Lebanon. He also lauded the support of their predecessors since the creation of the MEREF in 2008, which offers French companies working in Lebanon the support services that are most appropriate to their expectations.
The date was set take part in Espace France at Horeca and Project Lebanon in April and June respectively at Biel, before the annual MEREF gala dinner in the gardens of the Residence des Pins.