His Royal Highness Prince Hj Al-Muhtadee Billah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister's Office, and Her Royal Highness Paduka Seri Pg Anak Isteri Pg Anak Sarah, continued their second day of their official visit to the Republic of France with a visit to the Louvre Museum, RTB reported yesterday.
On their arrival at the museum, Their Royal Highnesses were welcomed by the general administrator of the museum, Mr Didier Selles, and the public relations officer, Madame Nicole Salinger.
Their Royal Highnesses proceeded to the Louvre Islamic Collection Gallery. The museum's Islamic Arab Department was created in 1963.
Their Royal Highnesses also visited the Salle de Etat gallery, which displays Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.
Earlier, His Royal Highness visited the Operation Room of the National Police Force. Upon arrival, His Royal Highness was greeted by the head of the Police Prefecture, Mr Pierre Mutz. There was a welcoming address, followed by a briefing on the structure and activities of the National Police.
The Information and Command Room of the Police Force is equipped with a state-of-the-art system, notably in the telecommunications and computer areas. It comprises district units, namely public order, traffic, emergency services and zone coordination.
The Information and Command Room coordinates the action of the police in uniform on the ground as well as facilitate the permanent cooperation with the various police directorates of the Paris Police Prefecture.
The National Police is the main civil law enforcement agency of France with primary jurisdiction in cities and large towns. The force comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior, with about 150,000 employees. The National Police also oversees the Emergency Services Room, which is one of the tools of community policing.
From the Operating Room, His Royal Highness continued his visit to Thales. Upon arrival, His Royal Highness was welcomed by the senior executive vice president of Thales Group, Mr Jean Paul Perrier, and Mr Bruno Rambaud, the senior executive vice president of Thales Land and Joint Systems Division.
There was a briefing by the vice president of Export Sales of Thales Land and Joint Systems Division, Mr Marc Duflot, on Thales' investment strategy in Brunei Darussalam.
His Royal Highness proceeded to witness a demonstration on the 2R-2M mortar combat and the 3D truck simulator. The Thales Group is a global electronics company serving aerospace, defence and information technology markets worldwide.
The company changed its name to Thales from Thomson-CSF in December 2000 shortly after the acquisition of Racal electronics, a UK defence electronics group. It is now partially state-owned and has operations in more than 50 countries with 60,000 employees. The company generated 10-billion euros in revenues in 2005.
At the end of the visit, His Royal Highness consented to attend a luncheon hosted by the chairman and chief executive officer of Thales Group, Mr Denis Ranque.
The reception was also attended by General Panie and General Buleon of the Armament Authority, Ministry of Defence.
Accompanying His Royal Highness during the tour were HRH Prince 'Abdul Malik and Prince Abdul Qawi.
- Borneo Bulletin
(8th June 2006)
