Francophone employers’ associations from 25 countries around the world, including the Conseil du patronat du Québec (CPQ), announced on Tuesday the creation of the Alliance des Patronats Francophones.
“Because the world is made up of economic blocs, of business communities, we have to promote our Francophone ‘values’ not only culturally, but also economically,” said Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, president of the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF) and Chairman of the Alliance.
This new global body, the launch of which was made official in Tunisia on Tuesday, will have a permanent organization and will have the mission of “accelerating business relations between French-speaking companies”, it was specified in a press release.
The CPQ, which will represent all of North America, will be responsible for the working group on manpower training. Its mandate will include tackling the issues of recognition of prior learning, defining a training model adapted to the needs of Francophone economies and promoting student mobility.
“We are very proud to be the only organization in North America to be part of the Alliance des Patronats Francophones. More than ever, with the current context, we must work together to ensure a prosperous economic ecosystem for local companies that do or wish to do business overseas. This new entity will allow us to work together and represent the interests of Quebec and Canada abroad,” declared Karl Blackburn, President and CEO of the CPQ and Vice-President and Treasurer of the Alliance.
The Alliance also recalls that French is the third business language in the world and that it “requires more structured cooperation on a global scale”.