"France must continue to stand by Greece," French president François Hollande said during his visit to Athens on Friday after signing a strategic partnership with Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras to provide French management expertise, reports Deutsche Welle.
The deal aims to provide French help to Athens in its fight against tax evasion.
According to Hollande, France would help Greece to modernize its state and tax administration - demands from the country's creditors in exchange for loans. He also promised to encourage the French to invest in Greece. At the moment, France is already the fourth largest foreign investor in Greece.
The center-left French president praised Greece's efforts on the course of reform. "We must listen to Greek officials when they tell us that they want to go all the way," he said.
Hollande also said he supported a Greek request to the European Union for a credit extension in 2016 to cope with the large influx of migrants. Since January, more than 500,000 people have arrived in Greece.