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Trade ties between France and Gulf Arab states, namely Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, are expanding year-on-year, France's trade minister told AFP on Thursday, praising the deepening partnership as "good news."

During a visit to the UAE, Olivier Becht said French-Emirati trade ties totalled more than 7 billion euros per annum, up from 6 billion euros before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Trade with Qatar has almost doubled over the same period to more than 4.6 billion euros, mainly because of higher French imports of Qatari liquefied natural gas, he said.

"We have not only restored the (trade) figures that were recorded before the pandemic, but also improved them, and this is good news," Becht told AFP in Dubai, two days after he held meetings in Doha.

Discussions fructueuses avec SE Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, ministre de l’Economie des .

Plus de 600 entreprises françaises se sont déjà installées aux Emirats arabes unis. Allons plus loin !

— Olivier Becht (@becht_olivier)

Last year during a visit by Emirati President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan to Paris, the UAE and France signed a strategic agreement to cooperate in the energy sector, including in hydrogen, renewable and nuclear energy.

"The main areas of cooperation" with Qatar and the UAE, Becht said, include energy transition. He singled out electric vehicles, green hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel as main areas of focus.

French-Qatari trade ties have been boosted by a strong energy partnership, especially after Russia's invasion of Ukraine sparked an energy supply crisis, the trade minister said.

"We have a long-term partnership with Qatar in many fields, especially in the field of energy," Becht said.

"We will still be using gas in the next few years," he added, arguing that the energy transition will take a long time.

Earlier on Wednesday, Becht met UAE Foreign Trade Minister Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi.

"Trade ties between the UAE and France are growing fast," Al Zeyoudi said afterwards, adding that non-oil bilateral trade in 2022 grew by more than 20 percent from 2021.