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xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfoplay videoplay videoVideo Duration 01 minutes 10 seconds play-arrow01:10Saudi Arabia and France boost cooperation: agreements reached on theme parks, AI and defence
France and Saudi Arabia have announced plans for a six-billion-euro ($7bn) amusement park near Paris, following talks between French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the Elysee Palace.
The agreement was among a raft of deals signed on Monday as Macron and Prince Mohammed, who is also known as MBS, seek to boost economic and defence ties between their two countries.
Macron’s office said the amusement park project will see the construction of three theme parks, one of which is expected to be manga-themed, near Cergy-Pontoise, about 30km northwest of Paris. The project is expected to create roughly 22,000 jobs and will be led by Qiddiya, an investment arm of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Macron called the project “extraordinary” and said it would create a “new global destination” on the scale of Disneyland Paris. He thanked Qiddiya and Saudi Arabia for their “trust” in French talent, framing the investment as a win for his “Choose France” drive to attract job-creating foreign capital.”We’re not done surprising the world. Very proud of this achievement,” he added.
The project stemmed from a discussion between Macron and MBS in December 2024 in Riyadh, where they discovered their “shared passion” for manga, “and in particular Dragon Ball Z”, an adviser to the French president told reporters. The other agreements, signed in a ceremony attended by Macron and MBS, span energy, artificial intelligence, aviation financing, transport and health. Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith, reporting from Paris, said there was also “a letter of intent signed, reinforcing cooperation on defence – an exchange of expertise on cybersecurity, AI training and military training”.
The Saudi Arabian defence market is a significant market for French defence manufacturers, as Saudi Arabia looks for new strategic partners,” he said. “The French government wants to make sure it still has a hand in, is still working with Saudi Arabia on the country’s defence.”
The French presidency said two other contracts were signed with French companies during the Saudi crown prince’s visit: one for the marine logistics company CMA CGM to help develop Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Islamic Port on the Red Sea, for $434m; and the other with rail transport group Alstom to supply metro carriages for Riyadh’s metro, for $580m.
The visit marks MBS’s third official trip to France and comes as Saudi Arabia pursues security ties beyond its traditional partnerships. It was also the Saudi crown prince’s first trip abroad since signing the trilateral Mecca Joint Defence Agreement with Turkiye and Pakistan earlier this month.
Beyond the economic and defence agenda, Macron and MBS also issued a joint statement addressing several regional flashpoints.
The two sides called for a negotiated end to the conflict between the United States and Iran and demanded a return to normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. They also welcomed the US-brokered agreement on Hamas’s disarmament while pressing for a sustainable ceasefire in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. They affirmed support for Palestinian statehood and called for Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory.They went on to condemn attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on Saudi Arabia as well as on commercial shipping. The two men also voiced support for Syria’s stability and recovery.
