Today's Date:

(…) My message, today, is simple: I believe in Russia, I believe in the Franco-Russian partnership pursuing a great ambition.

We share a similar vision of the world. On collective security and regional crises, our analyses are much the same. In this year of Russia’s G8 presidency, we must draw on this shared vision to build together a more united, more stable world. But for this our economies must take up a tremendous challenge: to achieve growth delivering social justice and development.

For them to take up this challenge, I firmly believe two things are essential:

The first is that, in an increasingly open world, all our economies must equip themselves with new weapons.

I want to tell you here, in this country which I know is achieving economic regeneration and dynamism: France has all the strengths of a modern, high-performance economy, at the forefront of the new world of the twenty-first century.

At a time when many countries, in both North and South, are dependent on a particular sector of their economy, be it agriculture, industry or services, France has opted for diversity and balance. She has developed a high-standard, modern and successful agriculture. She is not only at the cutting edge in every economic sector, including the nuclear, rail, aerospace, agri-foodstuffs and automotive industries, she also has some major international market leaders in such services as banking, insurance and the hotel industry. Source of shared growth, this balance is for us an essential guarantee in an unstable and at times unpredictable world.

In all these spheres, we have some of the highest productivity rates, and an infrastructure allowing us to make the most of our country’s central geographic location in Europe. To enhance these assets still further, we have launched some major new infrastructure projects, both for high-speed trains (TGVs) and motorways.

We’ve just launched a major investment drive in innovation and high technology.

Over the next two years, the State will be investing €2 billion in the Agence pour l’innovation industrielle [Industrial Innovation Agency]. This will mean around 20 large-scale industrial projects, involving several thousand researchers and technicians, and bringing together some major industrial groups and small and medium-sized enterprises.

We shall also be investing €6 billion over three years in research. It’s a large-scale effort, unparalleled in the past 20 years.

To increase efficiency we’re getting our top-notch research laboratories, universities and companies to work together. This is why we created our “competitiveness centres”. Over €200 million has already been committed to financing both R&D and technological projects.

I also want to give our businesses new opportunities by helping them strengthen their presence in the world. This applies particularly to small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the hub of our economy and main source of our jobs (…).

Almost 250 businesses per 10,000 inhabitants compared to 200 in the United States, a quarter of the French thinking about setting up their own businesses and 220,000 start-ups in 2005: that's the spirit of initiative which is at the heart of our country.

To enable these businesses to develop, I wanted to act on all the levers: taxation, with, in particular, the ceiling on the taxe professionnelle [a business tax based on capital and turnover], which will facilitate investment; financing, with the raising of €2 billion on the financial markets exclusively for financing SMEs.

Finally, to act on the public procurement level, we want to work with our European partners to broaden the possibilities we can offer SMEs.

Europe must be an asset to our economy and our businesses.

The French, like all the other European citizens, want a Europe which addresses their concerns. They also want a Europe capable of mapping out a new way forward for the future, a Europe which strengthens our national projects and gives us all more to work for together.

What are they proud of today? Some great industrial successes like Ariane, Airbus and Galileo. And their pride is justified. Since, over and above the technological challenge, these are also major commercial successs which are driving our exports, delivering growth and creating jobs. This is why Europe must today encourage the emergence of European champions able to take on the global competition.

It is this Europe which has to forge genuine forward-looking policies and offer Russia new closer cooperation in the major strategic areas, such as energy. It was with this in mind that France presented her EU partners with a memorandum on energy.

My second firm belief is that this strategic partnership between Russia and France is a tremendous opportunity. For us, Russia is already an economic priority.

The Russian economy combines several major assets: strong growth, an improved financial situation, uniquely rich energy and raw material supplies, and also a population with a high level of education and booming consumption. All this makes Russia a unique opportunity for our businesses. This is why we want to encourage them and support them in the development of their activities and projects, not only here in Moscow but also in the Russian provinces and major towns which are growing so fast. (…)

We can draw on some strong links, with around 4,000 French living in Russia and 450 French firms established in your country, with the dynamism of players such as the Franco-Russian Dialogue, which is hosting our gathering this evening, and also MEDEF International [international branch of French employers' organization] and Club France. But France wants to improve her performance.

This is why I have included Russia in the five pilot countries where we want to increase our efforts to support the development of trade. It's also why I thought it important for a delegation of businesses, all at the forefront of innovative innovation, to accompany me.

France is a recognized leader in the luxury goods market; but she is equally strong in the high-technology sectors such as space, where we're celebrating the 40th anniversary of Franco-Russian cooperation, aerospace with EADS, energy with Areva, Gaz de France and Total, and the digital sector with Thalès and Thomson. This experience and scientific capital can be useful to Russia at a time when she is reinforcing her position as a leading player in the globalized economy and preparing to join the WTO. In this respect, everything which can encourage French firms to invest in your country and guarantee them a favourable environment will increase our confidence.

France is also strong in such consumer staples sectors as clothing, optics, interior design and furniture trade. I should like to see more partnerships between French and Russian companies, on the model of the joint companies created by Saturne and Safran for the manufacture of aircraft engines and the PPE mail-order group which, with la Société Générale, has set up a consumer credit company in Russia.

I wanted us to set targets: annual 10% rise in the number of French companies participating in promotional operations in Russia and of those using the State’s information network on Russian markets; 10% rise in the number of International Volunteers working in companies on promoting trade with Russia.

Tomorrow, thanks to the intergovernmental seminar, we shall be giving a new boost in the symbolic spheres of our strategic partnership, which must act as engines for our exchanges.

Our economies are linked, our interests go hand in hand. This special relationship between France and Russia is a tremendous asset, an exceptional opportunity for us to develop and score points in global competition. Let's combine the efforts of our centres of excellence on specific cooperation projects; let's step up the exchanges between Russian and French universities and put them on a long-term footing. Ahead of us lie many challenges. Let's take them up while deepening still further this friendship which enhances the stature of both our countries./.