Tourism Mission in Belgium and France Minister for Tourism Pascal Bérubé will represent the Québec government at the official launch of Bül in Brussels on December 13. The event wraps up the celebrations held to mark the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Québec government office in Brussels (DGQB). Minister Bérubé will meet with the elected representatives responsible for tourism in Brussels, Wallonia and Namur, as well as tour operators and specialized tourism media representatives.

The Québec Government Office in Paris celebrates its 50th anniversary General programming for the celebratory activities of the 50th anniversary of the Québec Government Office in Paris in 2011 was unveiled on November 26 by Québec Premier Jean Charest. An overview of the programming is available at www.quebec.fr/50

MRIFCE launches its Facebook page! The Ministère des Relations internationales, de la Francophonie et du Commerce extérieur (MRIFCE) now has its own official Facebook page.

Québec takes part in the 35th session of UNESCO´s General Conference The 35th session of UNESCO´s General Conference concluded on October 23. Capping off three weeks of activities, the Conference´s 193 member states set out UNESCO´s strategic goals and action plan, in addition to reviewing and adopting the organization´s 2010-2011 program and budget. During the session, the Conference also ratified the proposal submitted by UNESCO´s Executive Council, which nominated Irina Bokova to succeed Director-General Koichiro Matsuura.

Trilogie des femmes: France-Québec cooperation takes to the stage The Trilogie des femmes was presented in Nantes on September 24 and 25. The trilogy focusing on women is the first component of a major project that involves staging all seven surviving tragedies by Sophocles between now and 2015. The project stems from collaboration between Québec author-director Wajdi Mouawad and French poet-translator Robert Devreu and is supported by the France-Québec Permanent Cooperation Commission (CPCFQ - Commission permanente de coopération franco-québécoise).

Québec cosmetics industry showcased in Paris Seven Québec cosmetic and beauty products companies participated in the 11th Beyond Beauty 2013 Tradeshow from September 9 to 11, which showcased 230 brands, half of which were from outside France.

Conference of Montreal a clear success The 2012 edition of the Conference of Montreal, held from June 11 to 14, drew an estimated 3,000 participants from around the world, who converged on Québec’s largest city to hear renowned guest speakers explore topical issues related to globalization and the economy. Held under the theme “A Global Economy in Transition: New Strategies, New Partnerships,” this year’s Conference highlighted the broad transformations under way in countries and regions around the world and the importance of understanding the impact of these changes on the global economy. The Ministère des Relations internationales (MRI) was responsible for interdepartmental coordination of this major event.

20e anniversaire de la coopération Québec–Rhône-Alpes

International Digital Arts Biennial: France given pride of place The Association pour la Création et la Recherche Électroacoustiques du Québec (ACREQ) is marking the second high point of French-Québec cultural collaboration in digital arts during the first edition of the International Digital Arts Biennial (BIAN), which is in full swing in Montréal until June 13, by giving France pride of place in its program.

Le Québec réitère son engagement dans le projet d’Accord économique et commercial global Canada-UE

International Women’s Day: Québec honoured at UNESCO Québec was given a place of honour during the March 5 celebrations marking International Women’s Day at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. For the event, the President of Québec Native Women Inc., Viviane Michel, and the film director and founder of Wapikoni Mobile, Manon Barbeau, gave a presentation entitled “First Nations’ Women of Québec: Between Art and Activism.”

France follows Québec’s lead in improving health in the workplace The preventive approach developed in Québec over the past several years by the Healthy Enterprises Group (Groupe entreprises en santé) will soon be implemented in France. The goal of the approach is to mobilize and equip work environments to ensure health, well-being and productivity.

Québec wants gazelles! Élaine Zakaïb, Minister for Industrial Policy and the Banque de développement économique du Québec, has launched a call for candidates for the selection of 300 high-performance small and medium-sized businesses, consisting of 100 “gazelles” (high-growth businesses) and 200 promising businesses with a chance of becoming tomorrow’s gazelles.

Québec circus company The 7 Fingers at the Sochi Olympics! Québec circus company Les 7 doigts de la main / The 7 Fingers will stage one of the three presentations featured during the Sochi Olympics opening ceremony on Friday, February 7

Québec-France agreement on mutual recognition of professional qualifications: Over 1,000 permits issued Since the first mutual recognition arrangements were signed between professional orders in Québec and France in 2010, close to 1,100 French candidates have been granted permits to practise their profession in Québec under a Québec-France agreement.

Women parliamentarians adopt a declaration in anticipation of the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration Nearly 80 women parliamentarians – members of networks in La Francophonie, the Americas and the Commonwealth – adopted a declaration in Québec City in anticipation of the 20th anniversary, in 2015, of the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. The declaration is a commitment by the parliamentarians to continue their work within their respective parliaments in support of women.

Québec-France Understanding: workers can apply now Québec and French workers in 11 trades can now apply for recognition of their qualifications under the Québec-France Understanding. The announcement was made on January 25 by Premier Jean Charest in the presence of Québec representatives of the professional orders and trades gathered in Montréal.

Spanish company to build silicon metal plant in Québec: 300 new jobs At the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Premier Pauline Marois announced that the world’s number-one producer of silicon metal, Spanish company Grupo FerroAtlántica, plans to build a new plant in Québec. The $375 million project will create over 300 jobs.

Tourisme : opération charme en Belgique et en France

CINÉMA DU QUÉBEC À PARIS wins Rayonnement international award of excellence The Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC) was presented with the Rayonnement international award of excellence for Cinéma du Québec à Paris.