French Defence Minister Herve Morin said on Wednesday that he expected some 'good news' this year on France's attempts to sell arms abroad despite its continued failure to find a foreign buyer for its flagship fighter jet.
Morin has expressed frustration at the lack of sales of Dassault Aviation's high-tech Rafale fighter in the face of competition from less expensive models, such as US F-16s, made by Lockheed Martin.
But when asked by LCI television about the prospects for deals in Libya and Greece, he struck an optimistic note.
"I think that during the year, at one moment or another, we will have good news from such and such a country, and there are others that are interested in French products," he said.
France has not found a foreign buyer for the Rafale since it was put on the market several years ago.
"These are subjects on which, by their nature, the less one says, the better one does," Morin added.
In a separate interview with business newspaper La Tribune, Morin said Paris was aiming to increase its share of the global arms market to 13%, roughly the same as Britain, from its current level of 6%.
In the nine months to 31 September, France signed contracts worth close to €4bn ($5.28bn), compared with €2.8bn in the same period last year, he said.
"In the first three-quarters of the year, the results are in line with our objective of €6bn for the year, which would amount to a 10% increase in signed orders compared with last year."
Morin said contracts in 2007 totalled €5.5bn and Paris wants that figure to be €7bn in 2010.
A report released later on Wednesday showed Saudi Arabia, with orders totalling €1.16bn, was France's top arms buyer in 2007, followed the United Arab Emirates, Spain, and the United States.
A Defence Ministry official said on condition of anonymity that Saudi Arabia's orders were for a wide variety of equipment, while the UAE's main orders involved military satellites.
France decided last year to overhaul the way it handles major arms export negotiations after Morocco shunned the Rafale in favour of F-16s, and Morin said Paris needed to be more aggressive in promoting French products abroad.
"Arms exports have a strongly political dimension. The French state is making a considerable effort which is starting to bear fruit, as much for securing landmark contracts as for more modest contracts," he said. Morin added he was personally involved in sales pitches.
"In a Latin American country we are today aiming for a contract worth around €40bn for the sale of 105mm (artillery) cannons," Morin said.
"If I did not have a close relationship with my counterpart from that country, we would long have been eliminated from the competition in favour of our rivals," he added.
By Francois Murphy and Brian Rohan, Reuters.
