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Russia and France have set up a Council for Business Cooperation. A protocol on the creation of the council was signed Tuesday during a meeting of the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev with French businessmen, the Voice of Russia correspondent reported from Paris.

The new influential Russian-French agency is due to generate fresh ideas for the two countries' industrial cooperation.

The council will take into account the views of both major companies and small and medium-sized businesses.

This is the second step on the way to boost strategic cooperation between Paris and Moscow.

In late October, the French Foreign Ministry established the office of a Ministry point man for promoting cooperation with Russia.

The office has been assumed by a Socialist Party founder, Senator Jean-Pierre Chevènement.

A framework protocol to set up the Russian-French Business Cooperation Council has been signed during a meeting between Russia's PM Dmitry Medvedev and representatives of French business in MEDEF headquarters.

This new organization is expected to serve as a "lab for ideas on industrial cooperation" between the two nations.

The council will be co-chaired by Russian Railways President Vladimir Yakunin and France's Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall.

Russian PM Dmitry Medvedev's working visit to Paris has begun with his meeting the crème de la crème of the French business world, including top managers of France's multinational conglomerate Alstom, the PSA Peugeot Citroën group and energy giant Total.

The meeting, housed at the headquarters of the Movement of French Enterprises, or MEDEF, attracted the attention of the French business society.

France is one of Russia's top five investors, with some 500 various companies receiving cash injunctions from Paris.