Macron at Saudi-French Investment Forum: We agreed on joint projects with Saudi Arabia

French President Emmanuel Macron described his country as always a reliable partner for Saudi Arabia, noting that the two countries agreed on a number of joint projects. This came in his speech at the Saudi-French Investment Forum today in Riyadh, which was held under the slogan (Saudi Vision 2030 – France’s Plan 2030: Mutual Investment across the Two Visions), and focused on the strategic plans of the two countries until 2030.

Macron said: “We want to strengthen the partnership between France and Saudi Arabia in digitization and artificial intelligence,” noting that Paris has “promising partnerships in the tourism sector with Saudi Arabia.”

He added: “We have a platform that can be built upon to develop the economic partnership between the two countries,” indicating that “France’s partnership in developing the Al-Ula region is important to us.”

The forum includes dialogue sessions with the participation of ministers, executives, and business leaders, to discuss opportunities for partnership and cooperation in vital sectors, including energy, digital transformation, and promoting green energy initiatives.

For his part, French Industry Minister Roland Lescure confirmed the convergence of Paris and Riyadh in energy Technology and smart cities are part of Vision 2030.

For his part, Ahmed Al-Khateeb, Minister of Tourism, told the forum that the Kingdom is working with France to attract more investments, especially in the fields of aviation, hotels and workforce training, noting that the Kingdom aims to qualify 600,000 employees in the sector over the next ten years.

The forum, which is held under the slogan “Saudi Vision 2030 – France’s Plan 2030: Mutual Investment across the Visions”, focuses on the strategic plans of the two countries until 2030.

The forum will include dialogue sessions with the participation of ministers, executives and business leaders, to discuss opportunities for partnership and cooperation in vital sectors, including energy, digital transformation, and promoting green energy initiatives.

The forum will also address ways to enhance cultural exchange, in a way that supports mutual growth in both countries.

The forum is an extension of the great achievements made in investment relations between the Kingdom and France, as France is the largest source of foreign direct investment flows to the Kingdom among the G20 countries, with more than 11.2 billion riyals of foreign direct investment flows to the Kingdom in 2023. The number of French company licenses in the Kingdom is 503 investment licenses, including 117 licenses issued during 2024, of which 33 companies have regional headquarters in the Kingdom.