State Visit of the President of the French Republic, François Hollande

The President of the French Republic, François Hollande, will make a state visit to Brazil on December 12-13, 2013, to reciprocate the visit that President Dilma Rousseff held to France on December 11, 2012, and will be accompanied by large ministerial and business delegations.

On December 12, President Hollande will hold a meeting with the President of the Republic, Dilma Rousseff, and will participate in the Brazil-France High Level Dialogue on Education to be held at the National Museum of the Republic. On December 13, President Hollande will continue his official schedule in São Paulo.

During the visit, agreements on education and science and technology will be signed, and the Franco-Brazilian Economic Forum will be launched. The Forum will bring together entrepreneurs from both countries under the coordination of the two Governments, to discuss issues of interest to the private sector and encourage investment from side to side.

Brazil and France have established a strategic partnership in 2006, with important joint initiatives in areas such as science and technology, education and defense products. France is the third destination of scholarship grantees of the Brazilian Science Without Borders program, and has been developing strategic aerospace and military projects.

Bilateral trade in 2012 reached the figure of US$ 10 billion, with a Brazilian deficit of US$ 1.8 billion. France is the sixth investor in Brazil, and French companies are present in important Brazilian strategic and infrastructure projects, such as the Libra oil field (Total), the Angra 3 plant (Areva), the Jirau hydroelectric (GDF -Suez), and in many other sectors such as automotive, hotels and supermarkets.