France and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday signed a “strategic partnership” on artificial intelligence (AI) aimed at boosting cooperation between them, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told .

The agreement signed with Khaldoon Al Mubarak, managing director of the Abu Dhabi government-controlled fund Mubadala, opens “a new era of economic cooperation” in the burgeoning sector, Le Maire said.

“France has chosen to be the leading country in Europe on AI, and for that, we need partners,” he said during a visit to the Gulf state at the head of a delegation of entrepreneurs and start-ups.

“Four new areas of cooperation will be opened and developed in the coming months,” including research and skill development, part of which will be done via the Abu Dhabi branch of the Sorbonne, Paris’s main university, Le Maire said.

The agreement will also facilitate investment in data centres and the semiconductor industry, he said.

The UAE has already invested in a semiconductor production plant in France.