France has deep historical connections with what used to be called Indo-China – Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, but those connections are long broken, and the government feels that opportunities are being missed. The Ministry of Industry, Post & Telecommunications and Exterior Commerce has launched a new Asia Initiative, which is designed to boost the presence of French high-technology companies in that region. Faced with a growing region where France was under-represented, it was clear that the initiatives of French enterprises had to be linked, supported and amplified with governmental action, above all by the ministries of industry and external relations, said the minister of industry Gerard Longuet, who had just returned from a trip to Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, which he had visited less than six months ago. Furthermore, he has three more trips planned: one in March to Japan, a second to China before the end of the first quarter with Prime Minister Edouard Balladur in order to normalise relations after the row over sale of fighter aircraft to Taiwan, and then the third another tour of Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore. At present Asia represents only 7% of France’s total exports. The object of the ministry’s 10-point initiative is to bring that figure to up 10% in five years. I’m always surprised at the image of France in Asia, Longuet recounted. When I ask Asian students, for example, who have come to France to study telecommunications or other high technologies, why they came to France, they always say, ‘for the culture,’ or ‘for the lifestyle’! The measures that are designed to provide more government financial assistance to companies not yet present in Asia, are unlikely to be greatly needed by the telecommunications giants Alcatel NV or France Telecom. Other measures, including two new expositions this year and an intensified communication campaign in English and Chinese for French industry, could benefit them nonetheless. We have a strong position in telecommunications, but that success does not mean there is nothing left to do. On the contrary, we are not the first, but we’re not far [behind], so we must help the situation along, Longuet said.
