CHENNAI: French Ambassador to India, Emmanuel Lenain on Thursday described Tamil Nadu as a fascinating state with culture, talent and thriving economy and said France was keen to make further investments in the southern state.
The Ambassador, who called on Chief Minister MK Stalin at the Secretariat here, said, "Thank You Chief Minister Stalin. Tamil Nadu is a fascinating state with millennia old culture, a wealth of talent and thriving economy."
"We want to do even more to accelerate France investments here and boost student mobility", the Ambassador said in his official Twitter handle.
The envoy, during his three-day trip to Tamil Nadu and Puducherry would visit various French companies as part of deepening Indo-French business, cultural and people-to-people ties.
The French delegation also met Chennai Mayor Priya Rajan to present the expertise of France in building sustainable smart cities.
The Ambassador reaffirmed France's support to the model and smart corporation schools' project in Chennai which receives funding from the French Development Agency, a press release said.
Later, Lenain and his team visited the manufacturing plant of float-glass manufacturer Saint-Gobain located at neighbouring Sriperumbudur.
The World Glass Complex was recently inaugurated by Chief Minister Stalin.
Saint-Gobain has made investments close to Rs 4,700 crore in Tamil Nadu.
"Very impressed by Saint-Gobain World Glass complex at Sriperumbudur. It is global biggest, this glass production plant was scaled up in March with two new facilities unveiled by Chief Minister (M K Stalin)", the Ambassador said.
After winding up his trip to Tamil Nadu, the Ambassador is visiting neighbouring Puducherry on Friday, where he would meet Lieutenant-Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Chief Minister N Rangasamy.
Lenain would discuss ways to further strengthen the partnership between France and Puducherry in several sectors including urban planning, heritage conservation and tourism.
The Ambassador is scheduled to take part in cultural events, the second edition of 'French Rendez-vous' -- the French cultural festival; 'Analemma', a modern circus performance bringing together French and Indian artistes and 'Orchestra of Samples' - a global music project by audio-visual artistes Addictive TV, the release said.