October 20, 2005
Presidents Chávez and Chirac plead for higher co-operation

(El Universal) - "President of France, Jacques Chirac, and Venezuelan President, Hugo Chávez, said they would try and identify specific areas of economical co-operation in order to boost development.

Both Presidents met at the Élysée Palace in Paris short after the arrival of President Hugo Chávez for a two day visit to discuss political and economical issues, according to EFE.

The French government's spokesman said Chávez and Chirac talked for more than an hour about ways to bring bilateral relations closer and agreed on a 'dialogue mechanism' that will allow experts from both countries to identify specific areas of economical co-operation.

'The idea is to identify potential areas of economical development', said the French spokesman, who also said both Presidents talked about Latin American regional integration processes.

Chávez and Chirac also talked about the evolution in oil prices and evoked general co-operation in the energy sector (...)

This is the third meeting between the French and Venezuelan Presidents this year. Before Meeting with Chirac, Chávez went through various aspects of bilateral relations like energy, defence and foreign issues, with Prime Minister Villepin.

'Coming years are very important for co-operation', said the French Prime Minister, who emphasised both countries have 'the same vision on relations between North and South, as well as the need to change things and have new ideas' (...)".