PARIS, July 4 (KUNA) -- French foreign minister Alain Juppe flies to Barcelona, Spain, tomorrow to participate in a meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean (UM), foreign ministry spokesman said Monday.
Bernard Valero added that Juppe would participate in the meeting on the occasion of assumption of office of UM Secretary General Yusuf Omrani.
Juppe, he said, affirmed France's desire to have a concrete partnership between the European and North African countries overlooking the Mediterranean.
Valero commended Omrani - who is Secretary General of Moroccan Foreign Ministry - as "experienced." He said France was confident that Omrani, who would lead a team and a 6.3 million euro budget, would contribute to supporting advancement of Mediterranean countries, like backing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), solar energy, civil defense, youth and students.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced the launch of UM in 2008. It consists of EU countries on one side, and Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey and Mauritania on the other.
The UM aims at launching development projects in the Mediterranean region. (end) tm.bs KUNA 042235 Jul 11NNNN