PARIS, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- After securing multibillion dollar business contracts in China last year, French President Jacques Chirac is now out to woo Asian giants Thailand and India in a trip shadowed up to the last minute by the saga of a decommissioned French warship and concerns over a hostile takeover bid of Europe's Arcelor steel company.
Chirac, who arrived in Thailand Friday on the first stop of a two-nation Asian trip, is making one of his longest overseas journeys since experiencing stroke-like symptoms last fall.
The 73-year-old leader and his wife Bernadette were greeted by King Bhumibol Adulyadej and children in traditional costumes. His two-day visit to Thailand is the first by a French head of state, according to the Thai press.
"It is very important for France to have stable and warm political relations with such a country, which is at the very heart of the development of Asia," Chirac told Thailand's The Nation newspaper in an interview published Thursday.
As Thailand modernizes, a raft of construction contracts totaling some $44 billion are up for grabs, France's Le Figaro newspaper reported. Topping the list are two upcoming infrastructure projects, one to expand the Bangkok-area public transportation system and the other to create a new, nationwide water management system.
In his interview with The Nation, Chirac also said he would also like to double the number of French companies investing in Thailand over the next few years, beyond the 350 firms already doing business there.
Chirac is on a similar campaign to score points with India. According to some experts, Asia's rising star may become the world's third-largest economy in the next few decades.
France and India have close strategic ties, with bonds further cemented by Paris' backing for Indian ambitions to join the United Nations Security Council as a permanent member.
Equally, if not more at stake in India, where Chirac arrives with a cortege of 32 French business and industrial leaders for a three day visit Sunday, are French aims to double trade with the Asian nation over the next five years to help boost France's sluggish economy. Already, commercial ties with New Delhi jumped 42 percent last year, and 37 percent with Thailand.
More broadly, the trip highlights growing interest on the part of France and European nations in wooing Asian powers. During a high-profile visit to China last year, Chirac secured more than $4 billion in contracts.
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder also visited China and India last year. And during his visit to India, Russian President Vladimir Putin last year promised tax breaks to Indian hi-tech companies who decided to establish a base in Russia.
During an interview with India Today magazine, the French President said Paris and New Delhi were close to reaching an agreement for civilian nuclear cooperation "but more work is required on both sides."
Chirac's remarks were published by the magazine Thursday -- the same day that French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy accused Tehran of hiding a military motive behind its nuclear program. Tehran has insisted its enrichment program is for purely peaceful purposes.
Even as it marches in lock step with Washington in trying to ensure Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons capabilities, France has been vigorously championing the development of nuclear energy elsewhere -- with an eye to securing energy contracts.
Currently, almost 80 percent of French electricity is generated from the country's 58 nuclear power plants.
Chirac's upcoming visit to New Delhi narrowly escaped being dogged by controversy over a decommissioned aircraft carrier. Earlier this week, the French President finally ordered the Clemenceau to return to France, amid mounting evidence the ship contained far more toxic asbestos than French authorities originally claimed.
The Clemenceau was to have been dismantled at the Alang shipwrecking yards in western India. But the prospect looked increasingly unlikely as weeks passed, amid opposition by environmental and activist groups in India and France.
Still unresolved, however, is a bid by Indian transnational, Mittal Steel, to take over Luxembourg-based Arcelor. Paris owns no shares in the company, but 26,000 Arcelor employees live in France and the French government has campaigned against a hostile takeover by Mittal.
Chirac repeated French opposition in his interview with India Today.
"Given the circumstances of the case," the French President said, "it would appear it is not in the best interests of the company."
