Business France appoints Marc Cagnard as the new French Trade Comissioner and Regional Director in the Middle East

Business France, the government agency supporting the international development of the French economy appointed on September 1st 2015 Marc Cagnard as the new Regional Director for the Middle East. 

In his new role, Mr Marc Cagnard will be responsible for leading the expansion of French companies by boosting French exports and also promoting attractiveness of France in the region, providing customized support to foreign investors.

Marc Cagnard, Business France Director in the Middle East, stated: “I am delighted to join Business France offices in Dubai and look forward to working with the team in the Middle East to build on a strong position of the agency and further grow French exports as well as attracting local investments to France. Cagnard added: Middle East represents a huge potential for French SME’s, in this respect, Business France is going to enhance  all its fields of expertise to support French export and attractivity in this region.

Before joining Dubai Office, Marc Cagnard was the Managing Director of Business France in Vietnam / Hanoi from 2010 to August 2015 and was previously leading the office in Brasil / Sao Paulo from 2005 to 2010. He has alos spent 5 years in Moscow as Commercial Attaché in charge of the space and aviation sectors. His strong experience with the agency and knowledge of international challenges that French companies are faced with will reinforce the dynamic of the French presence in the region.

Graduated from a Master in international business law, Marc Cagnard started his carrer in London, as a VIE (French Internship Program), at the French Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain. He joined Business France in 1997. He is married and has 4 boys. 

Marc Cagnard is officially the French Trade commissioner in Dubai and will be in charge of promoting and extending French presence in the whole region. To do so, he will manage a team of 40 people focused on 9 countries with high development potential in the region. 

He is based in the regional office in the United Arab Emirates (Dubai), which is so far the first market for French exports in the Middle East. France has exported last year 4 billion € to the Emirates. 

Business France is also well represented in the following countries: Saudi Arabia (Riyadh  and Jeddah), Qatar, Kuweit, Egypt and Lebanon. The agency is also very active in Oman, Bahrain and Jordan through partnerships and newly opened in Iran.