The Hindu Business Line : French connection

She is a woman of few words and a wry sense of humour. Joelle Rayet is currently posted as the French Consul General for South India in Puducherry; her past postings include Gabon in Central Africa, Mexico city, Cameroon and Male.

To the question if she has had any memorable, interesting or unusual experiences from these postings, she says, “Well, all postings and situations are interesting in themselves; but I’ve never been face to face with a lion or an elephant!”

Joelle was born in south western France and studied political science in college. On why she chose to become a diplomat she says, “Because I like discovering other countries, people, culture and love to interact with people from different backgrounds.” This is her first visit to India — her last posting was in Paris in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs — and having been here hardly for seven months she says she’ll take a while to get to know “a complex country like India. But I have been going around south India a little, including Chennai and Kerala.” It comes as little surprise that she is bowled over by the “greenery, the coconut trees and the beautiful landscape of Kerala”.

On her priorities as the French Consul General, she says, “My first responsibility is towards the French people living in Pondicherry and south India.” There are 6,500 French people registered in south India, and of these about 5,500 are in Puducherry.

So does she feel like she is living in a mini France?

“Not really; it is just 5,500 people among a million and more!”

While it is good to converse with these citizens in French, Joelle has found “some Indians in Chennai and elsewhere who speak very good French.”

She finds a “definite increase” in the number of Indians who want to travel to France, both for business and tourism. “More Indians are interested to travel to France to discover the country and the number of tourists is increasing; in 2006 we had 30 per cent more tourists compared to the previous year. It’s a trend that will only grow,” she says.

Even when it comes to business travellers to France, the numbers are going up; in 2006 there was a 20 per cent rise in this group of travellers compared to 2005. Her Consulate offers two types of visas — tourist and business. Joelle says that her office endeavours to streamline the issue of visas and make it hassle free.

“We have a private office in Chennai where you can submit your documents and they send these to us. If you submit your documents on a Monday, we get them the same evening, and send the passports back the next day. So it is possible to get your visas within 48 hours. If your travel is very urgent, you can fix up a rendezvous with us in Pondicherry and get your visa the same day.” For those who need to travel regularly on business or work to France, there is a multiple entry visa which ranges from 1-5 years and this is dependent on the duration of the passport.

It’s a Schengen visa that her office issues and on the rigorous checking required vis-À-vis threats of terrorism, etc, she says, “We have a special Schengen information system, and each dossier submitted to us is checked in that system. There is no problem for genuine travellers.”

French investment

On the areas French business houses find attractive for investment in India Joelle says French industry is present here in varied sectors. “We have presence in energy, IT, environment, automobiles, traditional manufacturing industries like St Gobain and also in engineering. We also have exporters of fish and other seafood, textiles, leather and luxury goods. L’Oreal has a presence in India and Louis Vuitton has taken a stake in Hidesign in Pondicherry.”

When she joined the French diplomatic service in 1981 there were very few women diplomats. Even now, “though the numbers have gone up, there are very few women at the top.” She doesn’t think gender is related to making one a good or bad diplomat. On the skills required to make a good diplomat, she has this take: “You need to be curious, interested in finding new things, open minded, adaptive to new situations, cultures and habits, because each country is different.”

A diplomat to the core, she politely declines to single out a favourite country where she has already worked or would like a posting. “Each country has its own charm and you keep discovering interesting aspects in each country. About where I’d like to travel or serve… I’m not sure.”

On her own admission, India is a difficult country to understand, so what are the challenges in her job?

“To develop and increase the presence of France in India and strengthen the links between French and Indian societies. We want Indo-French relations to improve, particularly business ties. The Indian economy is growing at a very fast rate and I’d like to make France better known in India. I want to explore opportunities not only for tourism but also business and to promote more joint ventures and cooperation between French and Indian industries.”

She also sees opportunities opening up in India for more French products; “I think there is good scope here for products that are typically French, such as French food — cheese and breads and luxury fashion goods. There are also opportunities in high-tech areas like biotechnology and IT. We have a good software sector, and your engineers are very good.”

Would young French engineers want to come and work out of India? IT majors such as Infosys, Wipro and Satyam have several European and American employees who have opted to work in India.

“Oh yes, I’m sure they would be interested in that. But apart from that, we also have some very young French entrepreneurs who would want to set up business ventures in India, found their own companies and grow their businesses in cooperation with Indian companies. You have some very good craftsmen in handicrafts and some French small and medium enterprises might see opportunities for cooperation in this area… maybe exchange of knowhow. Your traditional workers have very fine and precise skills.”

Unlike other foreign diplomats, Joelle is not exactly ecstatic about Indian food. “The food is very different here, very spicy, and I’m not used to spicy food; though I am trying to get accustomed to it.”

Her favourite Indian food is the ubiquitous tandoori chicken and naan. She does have an Indian cook, “but he is an expert in French cooking. He tries new meals on me before serving them to my guests!” As a diplomat she h as to entertain a lot; “there are traditional dinners like on national day, patriotic day — November 11 or May 8. We also get many delegations, many people coming to India.”

Joelle is single and her parents visited her a couple of months ago. After a hard day’s work she likes to relax by listening to “music of all types… not contemporary but classical and rock and roll. I like Indian Carnatic music, but not very loud music.” As for Bollywood, it doesn’t interest her much, going by the fact that the only person on her recall is Satyajit Ray “who was very popular in France. But even today, some Bollywood stars are popular in France, and we have a singer there called Pascal of Bollywood.”

Her dream for the future?

“I want to make a success of this posting… and then we’ll see!”

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