France’s President Emmanuel Macron Joined by Nearly 50 World Leaders at the Francophonie Summit to Discuss Cultural, Technology Challenges

Nearly 50 heads of governments from different continents, including Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Cambodia’s King Norodim Sihamoni and Georgia’s President Salomé Zourabichvili, joined France’s President Emmanuel Macron at the Francophonie Summit, a two-day event celebrating French-speaking cultures.

The event, which took place Oct. 4-5 at the Cité Internationale in the Villers-Cotterêts and at the Grand Palais in Paris, saw world leaders and heads of international organizations such as UNESCO discuss the importance of having a unified voice when tackling issues revolving around cultural, diplomatic and tech challenges, including AI.

The summit was hosted by Macron, alongside by the head of the International Organization of Francophonie, Louise Mushikiwabo. French actor and filmmaker Guillaume Gallienne from the Comedie Francaise turned up in Villers-Cotterêts to read iconic French texts while Lebanese actor and singer Hiba Tawaji performed “Li Beyrouth,” accompanied by the Republican Guard, in a moving tribute to war-torn Lebanon.

Aside from the Summit, francophonie was also feted as part of an itinerant festival held in different cities through France, notably at the Gaîté Lyrique theater in Paris, where performances, conferences and debates, film screenings and concerts were hosted. A showcase of French innovation also took place unde the banner “FrancoTech.” The latter gathered Francophone entrepreneurs from the sprawling start-up hub known as Station F. Several initiatives were organized in collaboration with TV5 Monde, the French-speaking streamer.

Speaking to Variety, Macron said he was “proud” to have had France host this edition of the Francophonie Summit for the first time in 33 years. “As I often say, the concept of Francophonie was invented by others. After decolonization, it was the leaders of non-French-speaking countries, the President of Senegal, the President of Tunisia, the President of Niger, the Prince of Cambodia, among others, who said: We want to organize this because French was the language of those who colonized us, but it’s our language today,” Macron said.

The French President explained that getting all leaders from different continents join forces was crucial “to try and see how we can create, innovate and trade better in French language.”

“We’re looking at how we can regulate the digital space and social networks in French. We’re asking platforms to moderate in French, we’re calling on several of them to do so. Some have made real efforts,” he said. One of the key message of the Francophonie Summit was the need to enlist the help of platforms to prevent the spread of hate speech and misinformation on their services. “Digital platforms play a large role and their societal responsibility can’t be neglected,” Macron continued.

France has played a leading role in drafting the EU’s AI Act, which is the first law regulating artificial intelligence, and Macron hopes French-speaking countries can now get together to set a regulatory framework for AI which continuing to train people, as well investing more public and private money into the sector.

A roundtable discussing these AI-related topics was organized with Bruno Patino, president of Franco-German broadcaster Arte; Amandeep Singh Gill, from the general secretary of the United Nations for technology; Amal EL Fallah-Seghrouchni, AI movement president; Sarah Hooker, VP of research for Cohere Achille Mbembe; and Amanda Storey, managing director for trust & safety at Google.

Macron said francophonie stood for a community that only shares the same language but also similar values, such as the commitment to democracy, fundamental freedoms, as well as cultural and linguistic diversity.

The French president pointed to the recent creation of the Cité internationale de la langue française (International City of the French Language), a place where research on the history of French Fanguage from its origins has been conducted.

“We also pay tribute to what the African continent, the Pacific, the Caribbean and the Amazon have contributed to the French language through the speakers there. We explain how the French-speaking world works. You’ll discover words and their history,” Macron said.

The Summit in Villers-Cotterêts took place in a castle that Macron said has an “incredible history because it’s where François Iᵉʳ used to go, among other things, hunting.”

“In early 2017, I saw this castle in ruins, completely closed, and we completely renovated it during five years of hard work by skilled craftsmen and craftswomen. And it turns out that it’s in this very castle that François Iᵉʳ signed a royal decree in 1539 that made French the language of administration and judges.”

François Iᵉ “unified his kingdom through language, much better than through conquests, weapons and other means,” Macron said, and eventually, one of Napoleon’s Empire generals, General Dumas, came to the castle “to end his career, his life, after having fought.”

“General Dumas was the father of Alexandre Dumas, one of our greatest authors, made everyone dream, even today with the films that have been made,” Macron said, referring to the epic adventure film “The Count of Monte Cristo” which is the year’s second biggest French-language box office hit.