Saudi Arabia to fund three new theme parks near Paris
It is an "unprecedented" project, Emmanuel Macron said. On Monday 24 August, France and Saudi Arabia signed a letter regarding a six-billion-euro investment to create three theme parks near Cergy-Pontoise,...
It is an "unprecedented" project, Emmanuel Macron said. On Monday 24 August, France and Saudi Arabia signed a letter regarding a six-billion-euro investment to create three theme parks near Cergy-Pontoise, around 30 kilometres north-west of Paris, the French president's office announced.
The announcement about this "colossal" project was made during a two-day visit to France by Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Macron's office said.
"22,000 jobs created. Unseen since Disneyland Paris. A new global destination", the president of the Republic wrote on X, thanking Saudi Arabia and Qiddiya, one of the many subsidiaries of the country's Public Investment Fund, "for their confidence in our country, in our talents and in our future".
This project "was born out of a discussion between the president of the Republic and the crown prince in December 2024" in Riyadh, where they discovered their "shared passion" for manga, "and more specifically Dragon Ball Z", an adviser to Emmanuel Macron told the press.
The first of the three parks is expected to be dedicated to this iconic Japanese franchise, although this has not been officially confirmed. The themes of the other two parks have not yet been revealed.
Two mega-projects in Saudi Arabia
The parks will be built and opened in stages. Construction is expected to take several years, the president's office said, without specifying an opening date.
Asked about entrusting such a project to Riyadh despite criticism of its human rights record, the president's office sidestepped the issue. "At no point, when we attract a project, do we seek to lecture others", it replied.
The presidency said that two other contracts had been signed with French companies during the Saudi prince's visit. One with shipping company CMA CGM, to help develop the port of Jeddah on the Red Sea, worth 434 million dollars. The other with rail transport group Alstom, to supply metro trains for Riyadh's metro, worth 580 million dollars.
A heavily criticised visit
The trip is one of the crown prince's rare visits abroad; Paris notes that he seldom leaves his country, except for international summits. It was his first such trip in almost a year.
On Sunday, Emmanuel Macron hosted the Saudi crown prince at the Esports World Cup, while Monday's talks were also due to cover strategic issues, including the situation in the Middle East.
But the visit by the Saudi leader has sparked strong criticism in France. Three journalists' unions protested against Paris's decision to host him, recalling the existence of a French investigation opened into allegations of torture and enforced disappearance, following a complaint filed in 2021 over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi national living in the United States and a critic of the Saudi ruling family, was assassinated in 2018 in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. His dismembered body has never been found.
US intelligence concluded that Mohammed bin Salman was directly involved in the killing, and a United Nations investigation described the journalist's death as an "extrajudicial killing for which Saudi Arabia is responsible".
In December 2021, Emmanuel Macron became one of the first Western leaders to meet the prince after Khashoggi's assassination. The Saudi crown prince has since made several visits to France.
'Choose France'
In his message posted on X, Emmanuel Macron highlighted the "Choose France" programme, which he said had made the signing of this project possible. "That is the whole point of Choose France: to go after the most ambitious projects and make France the country where they become reality. Create jobs. Make France shine", he said.
Since the first "Choose France" call for projects in 2018, a year after Emmanuel Macron came to power, more than 230 projects have been announced, representing some 87 billion euros and several thousand jobs, according to the Élysée.
France has attracted the most foreign investment in Europe for seven consecutive years, according to consultancy EY, but Emmanuel Macron said this "doesn't come out of nowhere".
EY said that France attracted 852 projects last year, out of 5,026 recorded in 47 European countries, a 17% drop in a challenging international environment.
France has attracted a remarkable number of AI-related projects, more than anywhere else in Europe, but industry has suffered, notably the automotive, chemicals and metals sectors.
