French Ambassador to visit Jersey

The French Ambassador is due to visit Jersey later this week.

 

His Excellency M. Bernard Emié will be meeting the Island’s senior politicians, including Chief Minister, Senator Ian Gorst, Assistant Chief Minister, Senator Sir Philip Bailhache, Treasury Minister, Senator Philip Ozouf and Economic Development Minister, Senator Alan Maclean. He will also meet the Lieutenant Governor, Sir John McColl, and the Bailiff, Sir Michael Birt.

 

The Ambassador was invited to Jersey by Senator Bailhache, when he attended a meeting at the French Embassy in February 2012. This week’s visit follows a number of meetings between senior politicans and officials from both jurisdictions: the French Senate’s Finance Commission visited Jersey twice last year and Senator Bailhache has recently met the Minister Delegate for European Affairs alongside Guernsey’s Chief Minister, Deputy Peter Harwood.

 

 

This week’s visit forms part of a wider programme of engagement between Jersey and France, ranging from discussion of European issues between French representatives and the Channel Islands Brussels Office to local relations with Brittany and Normandy conducted via the Bureau de Jersey in Caen.

 

While he is in the island the Ambassador will visit a number of cultural sites, including Jersey War Tunnels, Jersey Museum and the Occupation Tapestry.

 

Senator Gorst said “We are pleased to be welcoming the French Ambassador to Jersey and to continue the valuable dialogue we have been conducting in recent years.

 

“It is important that senior French representatives like Mr Emié are able to see at first hand the high levels of regulation and transparency that underpin Jersey as an international finance centre.

 

“I am also looking forward to sharing some of our unique culture with our close neighbours, with whom we share a rich and varied heritage.”

 

 

His Excellency M. Emié will be accompanied by his First Secretary, Financial Counsellor and Deputy Cultural Counsellor. They are expected to focus on links between Jersey and France, developments in the European Union, economic development and diversity, and Jersey’s role as an international finance centre, with particular focus on the Island’s high regulatory standards.

 

They will be staying at Government House, and will also be sampling some of Jersey’s rich culture, visiting the Alliance Francaise and learning about Jersey’s early relationships with France.