"France is considering Bangla-desh with a priority. We are not to compete with local companies, rather we will be development partners," French Trade Commi-ssioner Dominique Simon told a press briefing in Dhaka yesterday.

The briefing was organised on completion of the first ever visit of an eleven -member French business delegation in Bangladesh led by President delegate of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris (CCIP) Philippe Vindry.

Managing Director of CCIP Edmond Viviand, French Amba-ssador Jacques-Andre Costilhes, other members of the delegation, President of France-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIFB) A Qayyum Khan and Vice- chairman of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) Mir Shahabuddin Mohammad also attended the briefing.

Terming it a very successful visit, Vindry said: "I can't remember that we have signed so many contracts in five days in any other visit."

Elaborating the strength of Paris Chamber, Vindry said it represents 300,000 enterprises in France and more than 70 percent of research potential.

The high profile delegation visited textile, shoe and pharmaceutical plants in the last five days here. The delegation leader said they are really impressed with the professional attitude of the entrepreneurs and the visit will help increase future trade tremendously between the two countries.

Speaking at the briefing, French ambassador said CCIP and French private sector are interested in more business with Bangladesh and the French government is strongly patronising their efforts.

Edmond Viviand stressed on the need for arranging interactions between entrepreneurs of both the countries frequently.

"We are looking for investment opportunities here, especially for two types of companies some are very big and some are medium size enterprises. Some big French companies are already here and there can be a partnership for sharing technology," the CCIP managing director added.

The MD explained that investment usually comes when investors find confidence after working with their partners.

French Trade Commissioner Dominique Simon said some French companies are smoothly operating here without any significant problem.

Citing an example, Simon said Bangladesh has huge mango. So, it need not import mango juice. Rather, it needs technology that can add value to it. Besides, telecom, transportation, agro-processing and other sectors have tremendous potential.

He said: "Don't think that France is a very big market for Bangladeshi exporters, it is a good supplier as well."

The commissioner said most of the French companies will not depend on local market, rather they will increase exports from Bangladesh.

For example, Lafarge is willing to double its project here shortly, meaning another US$ 250 million is coming to Bangladesh, Simon added.

CCIP, Bangladesh Embassy in France, the EPB, French Embassy in Dhaka and CCIFB jointly organised the visit.