French President Emmanuel Macron, just back from his summer vacation, announced this Monday a colossal entertainment project “never seen since Disneyland”: the construction of three amusement parks in the Paris region, which will involve an investment of 6 billion euros financed by Saudi Arabia. He made the announcement after receiving Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, popularly known as MBS, on the very day the turbulent political season in France was restarting.
The official visit of the controversial Bin Salman, criticized for his systematic human rights violations, had an economic and commercial interest, although the leaders, after meeting on Monday afternoon without making statements to the press, recalled in a joint statement their alignment on critical current international issues. Regarding the conflict in Iran, both reaffirmed their common commitment “to a diplomatic solution that ensures the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.”
They condemned the attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz and called for the restoration of navigation in this maritime passage under the same conditions as before the US and Israel attacked Iran last February. They also called to “end the policy of Israeli settlements and the violence of settlers in the West Bank, which threaten the two-state solution.”
The “unprecedented” announcement, however, was the creation of the amusement complex. According to Macron on the social network X: “You know my interest in manga. Also my determination to attract investments in France that generate jobs and are ambitious.” This project will cost, according to his figures, 6 billion euros financed by Saudi Arabia. There will be three amusement parks located a priori in Cergy-Pontoise, in the Paris region, with about 22,000 new jobs, “something never seen since Disneyland Paris,” Macron said, referring to the Parisian amusement park.
The work will be carried out by the company Qiddiya Investment Company, a subsidiary of a Saudi sovereign fund dedicated to culture. The Saudi company Aramco, the largest oil and gas company in the world, announced agreements with France worth 3.7 billion dollars, and it was also agreed that the French company Alstom will be responsible for developing several new metro lines in Riyadh.
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As Mohammed Bin Salman was on an official visit to Paris, Macron could not travel this Monday to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, to participate in a meeting of the volunteer coalition, the group of allied countries committed to providing guarantees to the country in case of a peace agreement with Russia.
Monday’s meeting was symbolic because it coincided with Ukraine’s independence anniversary and was the first time it was held on its territory. Most have been held in Paris, organized by Macron, the main promoter of the coalition, along with the United Kingdom. The French president participated this time via videoconference.
Bin Salman arrived in Paris on Sunday, and it was his first foreign visit in a long time, after his trip to Egypt in 2024 and Washington in 2025. That he chose France as his first visit abroad since then “is a strong signal showing the dynamism between France and Saudi Arabia,” the Élysée Palace noted.
Macron had already received the Saudi heir before and traveled to Riyadh in 2024, amid strong criticism for the kingdom’s human rights violations, especially after the brutal 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was suffocated and dismembered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The CIA confirmed that it was the crown prince who ordered his execution. Macron was the first leader to meet with him in 2021, after a period of political ostracism, and later received him at the Élysée in 2022.
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