New UAE street named after the late French president Jacques Chirac

The street on Saadiyat Island and one of the busiest in the area was named 'Jacques Chirac Street'.-Supplied photo

A new street leading to the iconic Louvre Abu Dhabi has been named after former French President, the late Jacques Chirac. The street on Saadiyat Island and one of the busiest in the area was named 'Jacques Chirac Street'.
The four-kilometre road stretches from Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Bridge to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a museum that symbolises the deep historical ties between the UAE and France and serves as a beacon of cultural exchange and understanding between the Middle East and the Western world.
Sheikh Khalid bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Office, inaugurated the street on Monday in the presence of the late French President's daughter, Claude Chirac.
His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, also met Claude Chirac at the Sea Palace on Monday, November 11.
Chirac, who championed the European Union, died in September aged 86. He had visited the UAE several times. He had met the UAE's Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, in 1997; and the President, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in June 2003.
The road is beautifully designed with decorative landscaping on either side and offers views of the Louvre Museum and Saadiyat Lighthouse. Every year, it hosts a large number of visitors and tourists from within the UAE and abroad, making it one of the liveliest streets on Saadiyat Island.
"Sheikh Zayed and Jacques Chirac envisaged a day on which the UAE and France would lead the moral responsibility of bringing people together through inclusivity and tolerance," said Ali Abdullah Al Ahmad, the UAE's Ambassador to France. "Their memory and vision live on immortally through the fruits and beacons that have emerged from this togetherness and cooperation."
French Ambassador to the UAE, Ludovic Pouille, said: "Jacques Chirac was a strong promoter of the strategic partnership between France and the UAE. He was convinced of the role of this partnership for regional and global stability and continuously worked to strengthen it. Naming this street 'Jacques Chirac is a strong tribute and a highly symbolic gesture to the statesman and his actions, as well as to his essential contribution to the bilateral relationship."
ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi

Ismail Sebugwaawo

ismail@khaleejtimes.com