Paris Europlace said it has signed a cooperation agreement, its first in the Gulf region, with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

"This is an agreement that is really important," Arnaud de Bresson, managing director of Paris Europlace -- an organisation tasked with promoting Paris as a financial market-said.

The Memorandum of Understanding signed with the DIFC aims at developing joint actions in ... financial markets, asset management, Islamic finance, payment systems, research and education, and regulation.

Europlace aims through cooperation in the field of asset management to "deepen the exchange" with Gulf investment funds, mainly sovereign funds, de Bresson said.

The Gulf region is home to a number of heavyweight sovereign funds, especially the fund owned by the wealthy emirate of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

The agreement was signed at the conclusion of a Gulf regional tour by Christian Noyer, the governor of the Banque de France, who was accompanied by a number of high-ranking finance officials from Paris.

In a statement issued in Dubai, Paris Europlace said the delegation held talks in the Abu Dhabi and Dubai, which focused mainly on the consequences of the global financial crisis and the "new strategies of international financial centres".

Paris Europlace has 150 members representing the major players in the financial market.

Agencies