Abu Dhabi, Oct 8 (IANS/WAM) The French Embassy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has opened a representative office here of the French space agency, the first of its kind in the country.
The announcement was made on Sunday during a ceremony attended by the visiting President of the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES), Jean-Yves Le Gall, and Mohammed Al Ahbabi, Director-General of the UAE Space Agency.
Speaking on the occasion, Ludovic Pouille, Ambassador of France to the UAE, said: "It is a major milestone in our space cooperation and a clear sign of the new status the UAE has earned on the space international stage. Between France and the UAE, I used to say that the sky is the limit. Now, I can say, the universe is the limit."
In response, Le Gall said: "To lead this endeavour to invent the future of space, we need to exchange ideas and try to see things differently... I have no doubt that space will keep making a vigorous contribution to our countries' cooperation."
In April 2015, only one year after the creation of the UAE Space agency, France had been the first foreign country to sign a MoU with the agency.
The partnership allows both countries to mutually exchange competencies and conduct common projects and aims to allow new missions to be developed jointly.
More From This Section
--IANS/WAM
ksk/mr