A delegation of the Economic Affairs Committee of the French Senate (upper chamber of the French Parliament) held discussions on various smart city projects with representatives of the Government on Thursday.
The six-member delegation of French Senators led by Sophie Primas was in the city after Chennai as part of a visit to India.
The Senators, accompanied by Catherine Suard, the Consul General of France in Puducherry and Chennai and a representative of the economic service of the French Embassy in Delhi, held talks with Malladi Krishna Rao, Tourism Minister, M. Kandasamy, Welfare Minister, Ashwani Kumar, Chief Secretary Ashok Kumar, LAD Secretary and CEO - Puducherry Smart City Development Limited and the Director of Tourism. According to a press note from the Consulate, apart from highlighting the deep historical but also current ties that unite Puducherry with France, the two parties specifically broached the upcoming signing of a new MoU with the French Development Agency, the Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
Priority areas
The MoU concerns three priority areas of intervention — water supply, mobility, heritage conservation and sustainable development as part of smart city.
The strengthening of cultural exchanges by expanding the scope of French tourism in the city was also a point of discussion in addition to education, French language and vocational training, which are expected to open up new perspectives for long-term collaborations.