PARIS: Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan Al-Saud met with Laurent Le Bon, president of the Centre Pompidou, a Paris institution focused on modern and contemporary art, on Tuesday. It was part of his visit to France to strengthen cultural cooperation between the two countries and to participate in the 41st session of the general conference of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The Centre Pompidou houses the public information library; the Musée National dArt Moderne, which is the largest museum for modern art in Europe; and the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM), a center for music and acoustic research. Prince Badr talked about the Kingdom’s keenness to enhance cooperation with French cultural institutions and launch qualitative initiatives to serve the common interests of the two countries. The Saudi minister invited Le Bon and the ​​Centre Pompidou management team to visit Saudi Arabia, attend cultural events and get acquainted with the Kingdom’s cultural scene. The Saudi contingent also included Deputy Minister of Culture Hamed bin Mohammed Fayez, Rakan bin Ibrahim Al-Touq, general supervisor of Cultural Affairs and International Relations, Eng. Fahd bin Abdulrahman Al-Kanaan, undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture for International Cultural Relations, and Abdullah bin Ali Al-Ahmari, adviser for Public Diplomacy Affairs at the Saudi Embassy in Paris.a