ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of France Marc Barety called on Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain here on Friday and informed him that French government was working to relax its travel advisory allowing its nationals to visit Pakistan in wake of improved security situation in Pakistan.
Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said that Pakistan and France shared cordial relations and emphasised the need to extend these ties from trade and economic domain to cooperation in the field of culture, film, and education. He said that Pakistan highly valued its multi-faceted relations with France as it considered Paris an important member of European Union and development partner.
The minister said that Pakistan was keen to forge closer relations with France and European Union in areas of mutual benefit. The minister sought French scholarships for Pakistani students’ especially in the realm of mass media.
The minister said that Pakistan had decided to open its pristine locations for film making and would like French filmmakers to explore beauty of these scenic areas. He said that the government had envisaged to establish a media university by merging Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistan academies to impart training and skills to media persons and engineers in both creative expressions and technical aspects.
The ambassador appreciated the idea of film and documentary making and said that France would look into all possibilities of cooperating with Pakistan in the field of film making. He also briefed the minister about the Cannes Film Festival held every year in France and told that festival offered an opportunity for Pakistanis to showcase their culture. Talking about the regulatory framework, the Ambassador suggested that Pakistan may also look into media regulatory framework in France and may benefit from it.