Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has received French Prime Minister Francois Fillon who is on a current visit to the UAE.

The two sides discussed regional and international security and underlined the significance of bolstering regional stability and security and the promotion of peaceful coexistence and understanding both regionally and internationally to spread peace all over the world.

Welcoming Fillon, Sheikh Mohammed expressed satisfaction at the progress of the UAE-French bilateral relations in various areas.

He affirmed the UAE leadership's interest in promoting these "historical and strategic relations." Sheikh Mohammed expressed hopes that the French Prime Minister's current visit would add the hoped-for momentum to promote cooperation between the private and public sectors of both countries.

For his part, Fillon termed the UAE-French relations as "long standing, strategic and historical". He said his UAE visit aims to expand cooperation with the UAE in trade, culture, tourism, energy and defense. "The French-UAE relations are based on mutual respect and concord on regional and international issues," Fillon added.

He expressed gladness at visiting the UAE leading a high level delegation. He thanked Sheikh Mohammed for his interest in ensuring the success of the current visit. He thanked the UAE for that the generous treatment of over 10,000 French expatriates in the UAE reflect the strong friendly relations the leaderships and people of both countries maintain.