Ghobash is the new UAE ambassador to France

Omar Saif Ghobash, the new UAE ambassador to the French Republic, presented his credentials to President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Tuesday.

Mr Ghobash, who has completed an 8-year tour as the ambassador to Russia, will look to increase ties between the two countries.

Mr Macron's France has played a more active political role in Middle East affairs, most recently inviting Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri to France, after the latter had announced his resignation on Saudi Arabian television during a visit to Riyadh.

Macron's invitation to Hariri proved effective in dispelling rumours that the Lebanese leader was being kept under house arrest in Saudi Arabia.

The cultural ties between the two nations have grown in importance with the recent opening of The Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi and French support of the UAE's push to create a stronger international body to protect historical monuments and cultural artefacts.

During Tuesday's meeting at the Elysee Palace, the two sides reviewed areas of current co-operation and discussed ways of extending this.

The UAE ambassador affirmed his determination to build on the achievements of the two countries and to serve their mutual interests.

Mr Ghobash is currently on the board of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King's College in London and was elected to the board of trustees of the UAE Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi.

Ambassador Ghobash began his career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation as a diplomat in the UAE Mission to the United Nations. He holds a bachelor of law from Balliol College, Oxford University, and a degree in mathematics from the University of London.