JERBA | François Legault wants to double trade between Quebec and France.
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“I look at the numbers, it’s almost ridiculous. We export 1.7 billion to Quebec per year in France, then France exports 3 and a half billion per year, only! […] These figures should at least be doubled,” pleaded the Prime Minister during a meeting with the Mouvement des entreprises de France (MEDEF), Sunday morning, on the sidelines of the Francophonie Summit.
Upon his arrival in Tunisia on Friday, François Legault expressed his desire to increase trade with other French-speaking states, such as France, but also African countries.
“It’s easier to do business when you speak the same language, so you have to do it more,” argued Mr. Legault.
The Prime Minister repeated this speech with the representatives of French employers.
“When we look at the size of France, the size of Quebec, we have 70% of our business with the United States, we would like to diversify. And ideally we will continue to do so with all the countries of La Francophonie. But honestly, we have to do a lot more with France, ”insisted Mr. Legault, when taking pictures at the start of his meeting with MEDEF.
Airbus and Alstom as examples
He cited, as examples, Airbus and Alstom, French companies in which Quebec is a partner.
“There are more French speakers working at Airbus-Bombardier than at Boeing,” he said. Then Alstom, the largest shareholder of Alstom currently is the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec. »
“Then we have an agreement where Alstom’s Americas headquarters are in Quebec,” he continued. The two competitors, well there is Siemens in Germany and then the Chinese. There are no Americans apart from Alstom. And again, what you have to tell everyone is that there are more French-speakers working at Alstom than at Siemens than at the Chinese. »
Short meeting with Macron
François Legault was entitled to a “short meeting”, rather “informal”, on Saturday, with French President Emmanuel Macron.
“We were able to talk to each other, not for very long, but we still talked about the situation of French and we also talked about the possibility of working together to develop cultural content for young Francophones, among others”, told the Prime Minister of Quebec, during a press scrum, late Saturday evening.
Mr. Legault also plans to meet, Sunday afternoon, with the Tunisian president, as Mr. Macron did the day before, when it is an end of inadmissibility for Justin Trudeau, by fear of “legitimizing” the Kaïs Saïed regime.
François Legault must also participate, in the early afternoon, Tunisian time, in a special meeting on the situation in Haiti, which will be chaired by the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau.
At the end of the day, Mr. Legault will deliver a speech at the Economic Forum of La Francophonie, which is organized on the sidelines of the 18th Summit of La Francophonie.
He will finally take stock of his trip to Tunisia in the early evening, before heading back to Quebec on Monday.