The speaker of French Senate, Jean-Pierre Bel, said Thursday in Paris that Algeria is more than a promising economic market, it is a "future power" and an "essential" partner for France. "Algeria is more than a promising market, it is indisputably a future economic power," he said at the opening of Algeria Meetings, an economic event held at the French Senate headquarters in Paris. Dubbing it wise the choice of Algeria for this first Senate-Ubifrance meeting, Bel underlined that the exchanges between Algerian and French economic and institutional operators, is part of an especially dynamic stage in the relations between the two countries. Bel mentioned the state's visit paid by French President François Hollande to Algeria in December 2012 and the first high-level intergovernmental meeting in December 2013 in Algiers.