Saudi Arabia and France: Expanding Strategic Partnership in Defense, Culture, Tourism, and Investment

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron witnessed the signing of several agreements, memoranda of understanding, and financing solutions in the energy and industrial sectors, enhancing economic and investment cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the French Republic, and supporting partnership opportunities between companies and institutions in both countries, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The package included agreements and memoranda of understanding in several key sectors, including defense cooperation, artificial intelligence, and tourism investment, as well as a comprehensive agreement for cooperation in cultural, environmental, tourism, human, economic, and heritage development, according to Al Arabiya. According to SPA, the agreements included purchase contracts between Saudi Aramco and the French companies SLB and Vallourec, for the supply of oil and gas well drilling materials and steel pipes for oil and gas fields, with a total value of approximately $3.7 billion.

Saudi Aramco Digital also signed a memorandum of understanding with the French company Dassault Systèmes to cooperate in the fields of artificial intelligence, digital twin technologies, and related Dassault Systèmes technologies, including exploring potential applications in the oil and gas sector.

In the electricity sector, the Saudi Electricity Company signed a cooperation and financing agreement with the French National Investment Bank Bpifrance to support the development and modernization of the Kingdom’s electricity grid. This follows a memorandum of understanding signed in November 2025 regarding the establishment of a financial facility worth up to $3 billion, aimed at providing a financing framework to support the company’s procurement program and electricity infrastructure projects.

In a related development, the Saudi Export and Import Bank signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Group and Crédit Agricole CIB, targeting the arrangement of financing solutions for the group’s acquisition of new Airbus aircraft. The memorandum reflects the role of the Saudi Export and Import Bank as the Saudi export credit agency, as it will provide insurance coverage for credit risks associated with the deal.