ISLAMABAD – Ambassador of France Marc Barety called on Federal Minister forInformation and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain here on Friday andinformed him that French government was working to relax its traveladvisory allowing its nationals to visit Pakistan in wake of improvedsecurity situation in Pakistan.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that Pakistan and France shared cordialrelations and emphasized the need to extend these ties from trade andeconomic domain to cooperation in the field of culture, film, andeducation. He said that Pakistan highly valued its multi-faceted relationswith France as it considered Paris an important member of European Unionand development partner.The minister said that Pakistan was keen to forge closer relations withFrance and European Union in areas of mutual benefit for each other. Theminister sought French scholarships for Pakistani students’ especially inthe realm of mass media.
The minister said that Pakistan had decided to open its pristine locationsfor film making and would like French filmmakers to explore beauty of thesescenic areas. He said that the government had envisaged to establish amedia university by merging Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistanacademies to impart training and skills to media persons and engineers inboth creative expressions and technical aspects.
The ambassador appreciated the idea of film and documentary making and saidthat France would look into all possibilities of cooperating with Pakistanin the field of film making. He also briefed the minister about the CannesFilm Festival held every year in France and told that festival offered anopportunity for Pakistanis to showcase their culture. Talking about theregulatory framework, the Ambassador suggested that Pakistan may also lookinto media regulatory framework in France and may benefit from it. – APP