The first official visit to Boston of the new Ambassador of France to the United States, Mr. Laurent Bili.
The new ambassador of France to the United States, Laurent Bili, visited Boston from June 3 to June 7, 2023. He met with the economic, scientific, academic, and cultural actors essential to Franco-American relations in New England. He also had many fruitful exchanges with the French community, honorary Consuls, and consular advisors of New England.
The Ambassador first visited Milton, Massachusetts, where he met the students and teachers of the two French immersion programs in the Milton School District at Milton High School and Glover Elementary School.
The Ambassador then visited the International School of Boston, where he exchanged with the students from PreK-12. He thanked the staff and teachers for their commitment to their students and to promoting the French language.
Ambassador Bili subsequently met with the Honorary Consuls and the Consular Advisors. He expressed his gratitude for the work these representatives and local officials carried out and their service to the 10,000 French citizens living in New England.
He also met with the Franco-American associations of New England: Boston Acceuil, the American Friends of Lafayette, the Harvard European Club, and the Boston-Strasbourg Sister City Association. He praised their commitment to serving New England’s French community and promoting cooperation between France and the United States.
Ambassador Bili met Maria Zuber, Vice President for Research at MIT. They had a fruitful exchange on scientific cooperation between France and MIT and tomorrow’s challenges of climate change and artificial intelligence.
Ambassador Bili met with several leaders from the French and American biotech ecosystems during the BIO International Convention. He also visited the French pavilion in the company of Consul General Mustafa Soykurt and the Director of Business France, Laurent Saint-Martin.
At this edition of BIO, France had one of the largest delegations, with more than 100 businesses, 15 innovation centers and regions, and 170 participants, all coordinated by Business France.
Ambassador Bili also exchanged with the CEO of the BIO Convention, Rachel King, and participated in a round table discussion about the promotion of innovation in the life sciences worldwide, during which he highlighted the richness of the French innovation ecosystem.
Finally, he participated in a significant event to promote France’s attractiveness, organized by the Conseillers du Commerce Extérieur de la France à Boston (French Foreign Trade Advisors in Boston), in the presence of 200 CEOs and executives of the life science and research industries.
Mr. Laurent Bili met professors Joe Nye, Stephen Walt, and Meghan O’Sullivan of the Harvard Kennedy School and Daron Acemoglu of MIT to discuss relations between France and the United States and the current state of international affairs.
He was then a guest on Boston Public Radio to talk with co-hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan about Franco-American relations, China, the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and his time in Boston.
