France, PH to expand cooperation

French Ambassador to the Philippines Michèle Boccoz on Thursday night said no meeting date has been decided yet but a mission from France is expected to fly to Manila once details have been finalized. (File Photo: Embassy of France to the Philippines and Micronesia/Facebook)

MANILA – The Philippines and France have formed a task force to facilitate talks on expanded cooperation on security and energy, among others.

French Ambassador to the Philippines Michèle Boccoz on Thursday night said no meeting date has been decided yet but a mission from France is expected to fly to Manila once details have been finalized.

The task force was formed following the telephone conversation and meeting between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month.

“We’re looking at the situation, what we can offer, what are the areas that we could focus on,” Boccoz said in an interview at her residence in Makati City on Thursday night.

“We don’t have a date (for the meeting as of yet). It should be soon because we have pressure from both presidents, we’re working on that,” she added.

During their talks, Macron and Marcos discussed ways to strengthen cooperation on low-carbon energy, food security, addressing climate change, defense and human trade.

On energy, Boccoz said the two countries could particularly work on small nuclear reactors, which she said fits the Philippines as an archipelago.

“We’re moving to a new technology which is small nuclear reactors, and this is something that is very much adapted to the geography of the Philippines in the sense that you can have modular, smaller units that can be on islands and you don’t need to have a huge grid or to have a huge production somewhere. This is an area where we’re going to work more closely,” she said.