France, Australia sign new agreements

AGREEMENTS SIGNED BETWEEN AUSTRALIA AND FRANCE:

CANCER RESEARCH - A group of French research institutions will form a new international cancer research laboratory with Australia's Deakin University and the University of Tasmania.

QUANTUM COMPUTING - Australia and France have agreed to work together on ground-breaking research to develop a commercialised quantum silicon circuit in a deal between Australia's first quantum computing company and a world-leading French research organisation.

DEFENCE - The establishment of an annual Australia-France defence industry symposium, as part of a broader initiative between the two nations.

ENERGY - An agreement to develop, operate and supply renewable energy at a lower cost between French energy producer NEOEN and British-Australian renewable energy company SIMEC ZEN Energy.

TERRORISM - Australia has agreed to host the next international conference on terror financing in 2019, following on from a meeting in France last week.

CYBERSPACE - Co-operation on cybersecurity designed to combat threats to military and civilian networks.

EDUCATION - The University of Adelaide and France's ENSTA Bretagne will offer dual master's degrees in engineering, specifically in submarine and shipbuilding, under a new partnership between the institutions.

SPACE - A new partnership between the University of NSW and CNES to study a breakthrough hyperspectral remote-sensing satellite that will be capable of monitoring coral reefs in Australia and the South Pacific.

PACIFIC - Logistical support agreement between the Australian Defence Force and the French Armed Forces.