Elysee: French-Saudi commitment to strengthen strategic partnership

The Élysée Palace confirmed on Tuesday that France and Saudi Arabia are committed to strengthening their strategic partnership across various fields. This stance by the Élysée comes in response to talks held by French President Emmanuel Macron with his guest, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia, on Monday, as part of his official visit to France.

The Élysée Palace stated in a press release that President Macron and the Saudi Crown Prince held the inaugural meeting of the Saudi-French Strategic Partnership Council, which discussed a number of issues of mutual interest. It highlighted the announcement of three future projects to develop leisure cities, with investments totaling approximately 6 billion euros (around 7 billion dollars), expected to create about 22,000 jobs.

Furthermore, according to the statement, both sides agreed to establish a dedicated and effective financial framework to support projects implemented by French companies in Saudi Arabia.

On another front, the statement noted that the two sides discussed major regional developments, emphasizing the need for close coordination between France and its partners in the Gulf region to support stability and peace in the Middle East.