Ambassador Emmanuel Lenain’s visit to Tamil Nadu & Puducherry

H.E. Mr Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India visits Tamil Nadu and Puducherry to boost economic, cultural, and people-to-people ties.

New Delhi, 7 April 2022

The Ambassador of France to India, H.E. Mr Emmanuel Lenain, travelled to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on a three-day trip focused on deepening Indo-French business, cultural, and people-to-people ties. He attended one of the major cultural event specially organised by France as part of the French Rendez-vous” festival taking place in Puducherry, from 3rd to 9th April.

In Chennai on 7th April, Ambassador Lenain called on Thiru M.K. Stalin, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. They discussed ways of boosting trade between France and Tamil Nadu, a state that attracts a significant share of all French investments in India and is home to over 140 French companies operating in a wide range of sectors.

Ambassador Lenain also held a meeting with Thirumati Priya Rajan, Hon’ble Mayor of Chennai, to present France’s expertise in building sustainable, smart cities. He reaffirmed France’s support to the “Model and Smart Corporation Schools” project in Chennai, which receives funding from the French Development Agency (AFD) under the CITIIS programme.

Thereafter, Ambassador Lenain toured French company Saint Gobain’s biggest global manufacturing plant in Sriperumbudur. Its latest float glass facility at the World Glass Complex was recently inaugurated by Chief Minister MK Stalin. Saint Gobain has made investments close to ₹4,700 crore in Tamil Nadu across 15 plants in four locations, a reflection of French companies’ confidence in India’s vast economic potential.

Ambassador Lenain travelled onward to Puducherry, where, on 8th April, he paid a courtesy call on the highest authorities of the union territory, H.E. Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan, Hon’ble Lieutenant-Governor, and Thiru N. Rangasamy, Hon’ble Chief Minister. He discussed ways to further strengthen the partnership between France and Puducherry in several sectors, including urban planning, heritage conservation and tourism.

Ambassador Lenain took part in “Orchestra of Samples”, one of the cultural event organised by France as part of the second edition of “French Rendez-vous” taking place in Puducherry, from 3rd to 9th April. The “Orchestra of Samples” a global music project by audiovisual artists Addictive TV who, since 2010, have been recording hundreds of musicians around the world playing various instruments to create new music. The Ambassador also addressed a gathering of the directors and presidents of the 14 Alliance françaises in India, the second largest such network in the world. Representatives of the Fondation des Alliances Françaises, Marc Cerdan, General Secretary, and Jean-François Hans, Asia Representative, were present for the occasion.

French Rendez vous is a French cultural festival being held in Puducherry, Chennai and Trivandrum with the objective of celebrating and enhancing Francophonie ties between South India and France.

Lastly, Ambassador Lenain interacted with software developers of the French Tech firm, Boost My Shop, which provides automated, innovative solutions to e-commerce professionals and represents one of the many Indo-French success stories in the IT sector.

Last modified on 09/04/2022

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