Special to the American Press

State Sen. Jeremy Stine of Lake Charles just completed an intense two-week mission to Paris to build new partnerships between France and Louisiana. Stine was the head of the Louisiana delegation to the International Organization of La Francophonie Summit. He is the grandson of four French-speaking Cajun grandparents and attended one of Louisiana’s first immersion schools in Lake Charles.

Leader of the Republican majority in the Louisiana Senate and president of the Louisiana section of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie, the senator also took advantage of his stay in France to plead Louisiana’s case in numerous meetings with economic and political leaders and in several interviews on major French TV networks.

As part of the Francophonie Summit in Villers-Cotterêts and Paris, Stine met with French President Emmanuel Macron, French Prime Minister Michel Barnier, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He also signed with the French Secretary of State for la Francophonie Thani Mohamed-Solihi the France-Louisiana accords to renew the collaboration between the two governments to send French teachers to teach in Louisiana’s 40 French immersion schools.

In the two weeks preceding the summit, Stine had a packed economic, political and media agenda, coordinated in collaboration with Télé-Louisiane. In all these meetings, he tried in particular to attract new investments and good quality jobs to Louisiana and to promote francophone Louisiana in France.

In the economic field, Stine had meetings with the CEO of Technip and public affairs managers of Total, Engie and Safran. These first three companies are among the most important in the energy field worldwide, and Safran is a global leader in aerospace and defense. In these discussions, Stine highlighted the favorable context for new investments in Louisiana and especially argued for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) installations, a reliable source of energy for Louisiana and Europe, especially after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Stine also held institutional economic meetings with the leaders of MEDEF International and the Alliance of French-speaking Employers. In addition to highlighting Louisiana’s strategic position as the world’s leading LNG supplier, he also discussed potential strategies to attract other French companies to set up in Louisiana, particularly in the energy (LNG, nuclear, renewables), quantum, aerospace, agribusiness, and artificial intelligence sectors.

One of the main obstacles to the formation of new partnerships between France and Louisiana until now has been the absence of high-level French-speaking Louisiana leaders capable of interacting with French authorities. The progress that Senator Stine, the second authority of the Louisiana Senate and the first Louisiana parliamentarian to have studied in an immersion school, has made, is a positive sign for the future of the French language in Louisiana and for deeper collaborations between France and Louisiana.