MUSCAT — Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, secretary-general of the Foreign Ministry, yesterday held talks with the representatives of a French Foreign Ministry delegation, who are currently visiting the Sultanate.

The discussions aimed at exploring the possibility of strengthening the existing bilateral cooperation between the Sultanate and France, especially in light of the visit paid by President Nicolas Sarkozi to the Sultanate last March.

During the meeting, Sayyid Badr hailed the initiative taken by the French side to activate the fields of bilateral cooperation and expressed the Sultanate’s readiness to continue communication, consultation and cooperation in all areas in the joint benefit and enhance the interests of both friendly countries and peoples.

The meeting also discussed aspects of bilateral cooperation and exchanged viewpoints on issues of mutual interest. The meeting also covered the seminar, scheduled to be held in Muscat today and tomorrow under the theme ‘The Sustainable development in Oman and the French experience’.

The meeting was attended by the deputy head of Mena Department at the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and the deputy director of Public Relations at the Ministry of Environment, Energy, Sustainable Development and Seas in France. It was also attended by Malika Barak, the French ambassador to the Sultanate.

From the Omani side, the meeting was attended by Sayyid Jifar bin Salim Al Said, head of West Europe Department at the Foreign Ministry; and a number of officials at the ministry.