With major developments in fields as diverse as heritage and law over recent months, HE Cécile Longé, French Ambassador, and Counsellor for Cooperation and Culture, Dominique Chastres take the opptunity to speak about their work.
HE Cécile Longé
Ambassador of France in the Kingdom of Bahrain
I would like to thank Bahrain This Month for giving us the opportunity to share with the largest number of readers our joy and pride in the last months’ achievements regarding the bolstering of relationships between Bahrain and the French Republic. This special issue of Bahrain This Month appears halfway between the visit of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to France and our traditional national day on July 14, as we call it, “Bastille Day”. Given the considerable progress in our cooperation and the strengthening of partnerships and trust in many areas, this celebration carries a special significance this year for all the friends of France in Bahrain. No less than 11 substantial cooperation agreements have been signed in the last six months, most of which have coincided with His Majesty’s visit on April 30, 2019, without mentioning, of course, agreements in the fields of economy, education, Francophonie, heritage, entrepreneurship, emergency medicine, the training of medical students, medical research, law, urban planning... all sorts of new perspectives and opportunity exchanges, visits and joint projects. This is a great source of satisfaction for an ambassador and her team because we have worked tirelessly, hand in hand with our Bahraini partners, who recognise themselves and to whom I extend warm greetings.
Dominique Chastres
Counsellor for Cooperation and Culture
Franco-Bahraini cooperation is a beautiful story that could fill the pages of a big book, but can also be summed up in two words: trust and friendship. Trust is expressed by the development of many common projects and friendship is born of shared values and related aims. Likewise, the French team for cooperation and cultural action has for many years built, with its Bahraini friends, a unique relationship.
Bahrain is a culture-friendly country because it has created its cultural identity by feeding on its extraordinary history, that extends over several thousand years. Alongside this, the suitability of Bahrain’s language policy, that strongly emphasises trilingualism (Arabic, English, French), brings this amazing country closer to France. Now, Franco-Bahraini cooperation seeks primarily younger generations, while striving to offer the best tools of progress and modernity.
Many files fill the daily life of a French Advisor for Cooperation and Cultural Affairs in Bahrain. From the medical field to the cinema, from the judicial to the living arts, from the university to the digital world, everything is open; everything can be done in Bahrain. It’s certainly a factor of considerable enrichment for both parties. In Bahrain, our motivation doesn’t fade, and the completion of a file, leads usually to the opening of another. The Franco-Bahraini cooperation team, which includes the Alliance Française and the French School MLF, supports the work carried out and will work to deploy the most innovative projects in the future.
