Saudi trade minister confers with French counterpart

Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz on Wednesday received a message from French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. No information was reported on the content of the message, which was delivered during the meeting held between the French trade minister and the Saudi crown prince at al-Salaam palace in Jeddah.

Saudi Minister of Trade Osama al-Faqei met in Jeddah on Wednesday with his French counterpart, Jacques Dondoux, currently visiting Saudi Arabia. The two ministers reviewed Saudi-French cooperation in various economic, trade and investment fields and means of developing these relations and expanding their volume.

France is on top of the list among the European states and the fifth among the world states concerning the volume of trade exchange with Saudi Arabia. The trade exchange was some 12.788 billion Saudi riyals in 1997.