Brice Hortefeux, French Minister of Immigration, Integration, National Identity, and Co-Development, said his government is interested in forging an immigration agreement with Manila to address the needs of its labor market.

The Philippines is among the Asian countries qualified under the third category quota policy set by the Attali Commission.

"Starting from the principle that France has the right to choose whom she wants to accept on her territory, as does every country, we must progress towards defining a genuine quotas policy. This is one of our priorities for 2008. We have already clarified and classified the criteria for access to economic immigration into France in three categories," Hortefeux said.

Countries in the third category are those with which France has "traditional links," including several Asian and African nations.

"This is why I have signed bilateral agreements with Benin, Gabon, and Congo. Similarly, I’m preparing an agreement with the Philippines," Hortefeux said in a transcript of his interview with the weekly "Le Figaro Magazine" provided by the French embassy in Manila.

The French senior official also said that several countries, including Tunisia, Senegal, Spain, and Italy that expressed interest in the quota system have been qualified.

"And I’ve already put in place, for particularly skilled workers, a specific procedure allowing them a three-year, once renewable, permit to stay in France. This shows that by encouraging the movement of skilled workers, we are rejecting the brain drain," he said.

The second category qualifies the nationals of third category countries now staying in France.

"In the second category, access to the labour market is limited to 30 job sectors...I should like job opportunities first to be offered to those legally established in France," he said.

The first category, meanwhile, welcomes European Union (EU) nationals, for whom France has opened up 150 job sectors.

"If the aim is to develop job-related immigration to match family reunion immigration, this is exactly in line with the letter of engagement sent to me by President Sarkozy and the Prime Minister, who, by 2012, want the proportion of immigrants coming in to take up jobs to be the same as that of people accepted on family reunion grounds. So it’s consistent with the policy we want to conduct," Hortefeux said.

Foreign workers in France increased from 10,000 to over 16,000 between 2006 and 2007, he noted.

A total of 88,005 people have been accepted on family reunion grounds, a 12.3-percent decrease compared to 100,323 over the same period.

"It’s a historic figure, since it’s the first time in 30 years that family reunion immigration has significantly fallen," Hortefeux described.

DFA records showed that there are about 65,000 Filipino workers in France, half of whom are illegally staying.