Paris: Saudi Arabia’s crown prince wraps up his official visit to France on Tuesday with a gala dinner hosted by President Emmanuel Macron, as the young leaders seek to shore up cooperation.
Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, 32, previously dined with Macron at Paris’s Louvre museum on Sunday night after flying in on his first trip to France as heir to the Saudi throne.
Macron, 40, treads a diplomatic tightrope with the crown prince as he seeks to bolster his ties with the world’s top oil exporter while also managing relations with Saudi Arabia’s arch-rival Iran.
“The discussions were friendly, which allowed the two men to establish a personal relationship,” Macron’s office said.
The two leaders will now work on a “strategic document” involving a series of contracts to be signed by Macron during a visit to Saudi Arabia later this year, his office said.
In a trip that appears focused on tourism, culture and the arts, the crown prince’s delegation was set to host a forum on Tuesday morning with multiple French business titans, which could trigger a host of memorandums of understanding.
Prince Mohammad is also expected to meet some French ministers, a source close to his delegation said. He has so far met Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Defence Minister Florence Pay.
Prince Mohammad’s visit is part of a global tour that has already seen him travel to the United States, Britain and Egypt as he seeks to project a more moderate vision of his country.
Saudi and French aides stressed before the trip that cultural ties, as well as new business opportunities, would be at the heart of two days of talks between government and private-sector figures from both countries.
The announcement that Saudi Arabia will make its first official appearance at France’s Cannes Film Festival came after Prince Mohammad dined last week in Hollywood with media mogul Rupert Murdoch, along with film studio bosses and famed American actors, including Morgan Freeman.
Meeting with Hariri
On Monday, the Prince Mohammad held a surprise meeting with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri, as well as talks with France’s foreign and defence ministers. Hariri flew in for a meeting with Prince Mohammad just days after the Lebanese premier attended a donors’ conference in Paris aimed at bolstering his country’s crisis-hit economy.
Hariri later posted on Twitter a picture of the two men along with Morocco’s King Mohammad VI, but without any comment, and it was unclear what the three leaders discussed.
Just last November, Hariri surprised the world by tendering his resignation on live television from Riyadh.
Macron later intervened by inviting Hariri to Paris, and he later rescinded his resignation.
