Minister of National Guard Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah meets with French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris Tuesday. — SPA

JEDDAH – Saudi Arabia explored the prospect of benefiting from the French expertise in military training and armament. This issue figured in the talks between Minister of National Guard Prince Miteb Bin Abdullah and French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian in Paris Tuesday.

They discussed various aspects of cooperation between the Ministry of National Guard and the French Ministry of Defense, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Prince Miteb and Le Drian co-chaired the meeting of the Saudi and French sides at the Defense Ministry headquarters in Paris.

Prince Miteb said the meeting discussed ways to boost relations between the Kingdom and France further.

“Our meetings confirm the keenness of the two countries to strengthen their relations and the desire for continued communications moving toward joint cooperation, development and consolidation of relations between the two countries and their peoples in various fields,” he said.

The meeting dealt with ways to strengthen cooperation between the two countries in general and between the Ministry of National Guard and the French Ministry of Defense in particular.

On his part, the French minister said the visit of Prince Miteb to France comes as an extension of previous visits he made to the Kingdom during which he met senior Saudi officials in the context of efforts by both sides to strengthen the existing partnership. Many topics, particularly in the areas of security, military and training, were discussed at these meetings, he added.

Meanwhile, French Minister of Industry Arnaud Montebourg urged Saudi businessmen to make investments in the fields of IT, alternative and renewable energy and infrastructure. He said this during a meeting with Muhammad Bin Ali Binladin, president of the board of Saudi French Business Council, in Paris on Tuesday.