ADDIS ABABA, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and French Minister of State for Foreign Trade Anne-Marie Idrac held talks on Thursday to seek cooperation in areas like wind power generation.

    During their talks, Meles expressed eagerness to see a planned, French-financed, wind-powered electric generation project in Ethiopia, which he described would be a pioneer to the Horn of Africa nation.

    He said the project, which harnesses wind for electric power generation, would greatly supplement the country's hydropower grids, thereby helping the country meet growing local demands for electricity.

    It would also be doubly important to help Ethiopia realize itsplan of exporting electric power to the eastern African region, a project which is well in the pipeline, according to the Ethiopian prime minister.

    In Ethiopia, hydropower provides almost all the available electricity. However, the Horn of Africa nation is also well-endowed with geothermal, solar and wind power potential. Studies suggest Ethiopia is one of the African countries with the most wind power potential.

    He also said the 300-million euro (408 million U.S. dollar) cement factory project, to be established by French investors, would be the second largest French project in Ethiopia after the Ethio-Djibouti railway France constructed 100 years ago.

    The project, therefore, would be a vehicle towards a new chapter of cooperation between Ethiopia and France, he added.

    Idrac on her part said there has been sound relations between France and Ethiopia, adding that the two countries have also shown commitments to bringing their bilateral cooperation to a new height.

    She said there has been recognition that French foreign direct investment flow into Ethiopia could be greatly augmented.