OREANDA-NEWS.  December 11, 2013. Deputy Prime Minister, Economics Minister Valeriu Lazar met French Minister Delegate for European Affairs Thierry Repentin. The officials exchanged opinions on the Moldova-EU dialogue and Moldovan-French bilateral ties, the Economics Ministry’s press service has reported.

Repentin positively appreciated the reforms implemented by Moldova, which resulted in the initialling of the Association Agreement and the Free Trade Agreement with the EU in Vilnius. In this respect, the official said that France would back the signing of these documents as soon as possible in 2014. Thierry Repentin highlighted France’s willingness to assist Moldova in implementing the reforms, consolidating the state based on the rule of law and achieving the priorities of the European agenda. The two officials also approached issues of the visa liberalisation.

Repentin underlined that this meeting took place shortly after the recent meeting of Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca with French President Francois Hollande. This proves the fostering of the bilateral dialogue and marks the beginning of a new stage in the Moldovan-French cooperation.

The officials agreed on the need to consolidate the economic ties between the two states and the sectoral cooperation on the dimension of energy, communications, agro-food industry, transport, etc. Repentin stressed the wish to boost up the dialogue of the Moldovan-French entrepreneurial community and consolidate the presence of the French investors in Moldova, including within the public-private partnership projects and privatisation agenda. Valeriu Lazar and Thierry Repentin also agreed to organise a presentation of Moldovan investment and privatisation projects within the platform of the Medef ((Mouvement des entreprises de France) -French Employers organisation.