France and Saudi Arabia on Monday signed a memo of understanding for a €6 billion Saudi investment to create three theme parks near Paris, the office of the French president said.
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The Elysée Palace said the agreement for the “colossal” project was signed during a two-day visit to France by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS.
The investment will see the construction of three theme parks – including one themed around Japanese manga animation – near Cergy-Pontoise, some 30 kilometres northwest of Paris, it said.
French President Emmanuel Macron on X (formerly Twitter) hailed the “unprecedented announcement”, saying the attractions would be a “new global destination”.
The project will be led by investment firm Qiddiya, 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, where they discovered their “shared pblockion” for manga, an adviser to Macron told reporters.
Reports have emerged over the summer of plans for a park dedicated to the iconic Japanese animation style in the Val-d’Oise region, although no official confirmation was given. Macron’s office confirmed that one park is expected to be manga-themed.
The themes of the other two parks are yet to be disclosed.
The parks will be built and opened in stages, with construction expected to take several years, the Elysée said, without giving an opening date.
Criticism over MBS visit
Asked about entrusting such a project to Riyadh despite criticism of its human rights record, the presidential office said: “At no point, when we attract a project, do we seek to lecture others.”
The trip marked a rare foreign visit for MBS, with Paris emphasising that he seldom leaves his home country other than for international summits. It was his first such trip in almost a year.
On Sunday, Macron hosted MBS at the Esports World Cup, while Monday’s talks were also expected to focus on strategic issues, including events in the Middle East.
Saudi crown prince heads to France as Paris seeks closer Gulf ties
But the crown prince’s visit has sparked fierce criticism in France.
Three journalists’ unions protested Paris’s decision to host the Saudi leader, pointing to a live French investigation into allegations of torture and forced disappearance following a complaint lodged in 2021 over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi, a Saudi national with United States residency who was a critic of the Saudi ruling family, was murdered in Saudi Arabia’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018. His body was never recovered.
US intelligence concluded that MBS was directly involved in Khashoggi’s killing, and a United Nations investigation described the journalist’s death as an “extrajudicial killing for which Saudi Arabia is responsible”.
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.
(AFP)
