ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is set to travel to France on Sunday and meet with President Emmanuel Macron a day later, following an official invitation from the French leader.

The pair are set to discuss “a number of regional and international issues of mutual interest,” the Iraqi premier’s office said in a statement on Friday.

Iraqi government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi told a press conference in late August that the premier was scheduled to visit France and Germany in the first half of September at the invitation of the two European countries.

The Iraqi and French delegations will hold an expanded round of talks to “lay the groundwork for new partnerships between Baghdad and Paris,” the statement read, adding that several memoranda of understanding (MoU) across multiple sectors are set to be signed during the visit.

The two delegations are set to discuss “the general frameworks for bilateral cooperation in areas such as the economy, security, energy, and education,” the statement noted.

Zaidi carried out his first overseas trip as prime minister in July, with a five-day visit to the US, where he met with President Donald Trump and signed several agreements with American companies.

The Iraqi premier visited both Iran and Turkey after his US visit, meeting with leaders from both countries, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The two trips saw the signing of numerous MoUs.