- WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
French cooking demonstration at 'A Touch of France 2005', held at the Hilton Kingston Hotel, Knutsford Boulevard, New Kingston, on Tuesday.
Susan Smith, Staff Reporter
ORGANISERS OF the French exhibition 'A Touch of France 2005' staged last weekend at the Hilton Hotel in Kingston, said the event was a success from both a business and cultural point of view.
At least J$186 million (US$3 million) dollars worth of business deals may have resulted from the event, according to Karlene Lemaire, an officer in the Trade Commission Department at the French Embassy.
'A Touch of France 2005' was put on by the Alliance Française of Jamaica and the Embassy of France in Jamaica, and ran from March 19 to 22.
The exhibition featured comprehensively, commercial products and cultural aspects of French nations. It was intended to develop business, cultural, linguistic and educational ties between France and Jamaica.
"It was worth more than their investments in the booths," reported Miss Lemaire, describing the business participants' success. "The bigger companies made quite a few good contacts," she added.
She said more business opportunities opened up for Renault Trucks, a French company which trades Renault trucks and industrial equipment. Other than sealing deals to provide garbage trucks and fire trucks to Jamaica, the French company made inroads in business negotiations to sell industrial and cement trucks to Jamaican companies as well.
LINKS
'SEEN', a company from Martinique which deals with Waste Management, also made good from the exhibition. The company made links with the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica with regards to industrial waste management.
Peugeot used the exhibition to launch its latest car model.
Smaller companies had their share of success. T. Geddes Grant Distributors Limited benefited from the good sale on the discounted French perfumes it showcased.
Included in the range of products on display were Digicel Jamaica Limited's Sagem French cellphones, French fashions, Total's petroleum service and the operations of Bouygues Travaux Public Construction Company of France, among others.
"The cultural side went well," Managing Director of Alliance Française of Jamaica, Thomas Curelli told Sunday Business. "It was fine and could have been much better if the Guadeloupe delegations made it to Jamaica," he shared.
The delegation from Guade-loupe was booked to do a concert which was meant to be one of the highlights of the exhibition. The concert had to be cancelled because the performers were left stranded in Guadeloupe as a result of cancelled flights from the eastern Caribbean. The cancelled concert cost the organisers a loss of J$250,000 in revenues from ticket sales alone.
'A Touch of France' also featured interesting business, tourism and education forums and provided exceptional entertainment in the form of witty French films, fashion shows and presentations.
In spite of the setbacks, viewers and exhibitors got much more than a touch of France and 'tout s'est bien passé', which translates, 'all went well.'
