France and Saudi Arabia on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding for a €6 billion ($7 billion) Saudi investment to create three theme parks near Paris, including one likely to be manga-themed, the office of the French president said.
The French presidency’s Élysée presidential palace said the agreement for the “colossal” project was signed during a two-day visit to France by Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The investment will see the construction of three theme parks near Cergy-Pontoise, some 30 kilometres northwest of Paris, it said.
French President Emmanuel Macron on X hailed the “unprecedented announcement”, saying the attractions would be a “new global destination”.
The project will be led by Qiddiya investment firm, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.
The parks are expected to create some 22,000 direct jobs, compared with around 20,000 generated by Disneyland Paris, according to the presidency.
The project “stemmed from a discussion between the President of the Republic and the Crown Prince in December 2024” in Riyadh, when they discovered their “shared passion” for manga, “and in particular Dragon Ball Z”, an adviser to Macron told reporters.
Reports had emerged over the summer of plans for a park dedicated to the iconic Japanese franchise in the Val-d’Oise region, though no official confirmation was given.
Macron’s office confirmed that one park is expected to be manga-themed.
The themes of the other two have yet to be disclosed.
The parks will be built and opened in stages, with construction expected to take several years, the Élysée said, without giving an opening date.
Asked about entrusting such a project to Riyadh despite criticism of its human rights record, his office said: “At no point, when we attract a project, do we seek to lecture others.”
‘Provocation’
France is keen to emphasise that the crown prince rarely leaves his home country other than for international summits and his trip to France was the first such for almost a year.
“The fact that he chose France for this visit is an important signal and testifies to the depth and dynamism of the Franco-Saudi relationship,” said the French presidential official.
But three journalists’ unions on Sunday protested against France hosting the Saudi strongman, who is known by his initials “MBS”.
In a joint statement, the SNJ-CGT, CFDT-Journalistes and SGJ-FO unions noted that there was a live French investigation for torture and forced disappearance after a complaint lodged in 2021 over the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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Khashoggi, a Saudi with US residency who was a critic of the Saudi ruling family, was murdered in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018. His body, cut up, was never recovered.
US intelligence concluded that MBS was directly involved in Khashoggi’s killing, and a UN investigation described the journalist’s death as an “extrajudicial killing for which Saudi Arabia is responsible”.
The unions said the visit, following a previous one hosted by Macron in July 2022, “looks like a provocation for defenders of media freedom and freedom of expression”.
In December 2021, Macron became one of the first Western leaders to meet the prince in Saudi Arabia in the wake of the Khashoggi killing. The Saudi crown prince has made multiple visits to France since then.
Saudi Arabia is also set to host a string of key global events, notably the Expo 2030 and above all the football World Cup in 2034.
Saudi Arabia, a close US ally which has a history of tensions with Iran, is also closely watching developments in the Islamic republic in the wake of the US-Israeli war.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
