French Minister for Foreign Trade Jacques Dondoux and his accompanying delegation were welcomed at King Abdul Aziz airport on Saturday evening by Commerce Minister Osama Faqih and a number of officials.  During their three-day visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the delegation met with Prince Salman Ibn Abdul Aziz, Governor of Riyadh Province;  and held separate meetings with Minister of Petroleum and Minerals Ali Ibn Ibrahim Al-Naimi, Minister of Finance and National Economy Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf, Minister of Industry and Electricity Dr. Hashim Ibn Abdullah Yamani, Communications Minister Dr. Nasir Ibn Muhammad Al-Salloum, and Minister of Agriculture and Water Dr. Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz Muammar.

In a statement following his meeting with the French Minister, Oil Minister Al-Naimi said that the Kingdom has strong relations with France in the area of oil and minerals, since Saudi Arabia exports almost half a million barrels of crude oil a day to France, accounting for more than 25 percent of total French oil imports, and French geologists have been working for many years in Saudi-French joint investment projects for the extraction of minerals.   Minister Al-Naimi went on to say that there are also a number of French companies working in the service sector in the Kingdom, with contracts valued at more than U.S. $ 700 million.

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