France and Saudi Arabia Seal €6 Billion Deal for Three Theme Parks Near Paris
France and Saudi Arabia have formalised one of the largest entertainment investment agreements in the country’s recent history, signing a memorandum of understanding on Monday for a €6 billion project to build three theme parks on the outskirts of Paris.
The agreement was signed at the Elysee Palace during a two-day state visit to France by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and comes as part of a wider package of deals between the two nations spanning energy, artificial intelligence, defence and tourism.
The Project Details
The three parks will be constructed near Cergy-Pontoise, roughly 30 kilometres northwest of the French capital, on a site with a notable history: it once housed Mirapolis, France’s first theme park, which opened in 1987 with Saudi backing before closing due to financial difficulties. The project’s return to the same location, this time on a far larger scale, was not lost on officials at the signing ceremony.
One of the three parks is expected to be built around a manga theme, with reports pointing specifically to a Dragon Ball-inspired attraction. According to an adviser to the French president, the concept traces back to a conversation between Macron and the crown prince during a December 2024 visit to Riyadh, where the two discovered a shared enthusiasm for the Japanese manga series.
The venture will be led by Qiddiya, an entertainment and investment firm that operates as a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Qiddiya has previously developed large-scale entertainment projects near Riyadh, including what is described as the world’s first Dragon Ball theme park.
Economic Impact
French officials project the development will create approximately 22,000 jobs, a figure Macron highlighted prominently in announcing the deal. Writing on social media, the French president called the agreement an “unprecedented announcement” and described the planned attractions as a “new global destination,” drawing comparisons to the scale of Disneyland Paris, which lies to the west of the capital and was cited as part of the appeal of the site’s location.
“You know my passion for manga. You also know my determination to attract to France the investments that create jobs and make the most ambitious projects possible,” Macron said during the signing, before thanking Qiddiya and Saudi Arabia for their “trust” in French talent and industry.
The theme park agreement forms part of Macron’s broader “Choose France” initiative, a long-running push to attract foreign capital and job-creating investment into the French economy, particularly ahead of the country’s upcoming presidential election cycle.
Part of a Broader Package
The theme park deal was one of a substantial raft of agreements signed during the crown prince’s visit, which marked the first meeting of the newly established Franco-Saudi Strategic Partnership Council. In total, the two countries signed roughly 21 agreements spanning sectors including energy, artificial intelligence, aviation financing, transport, health and defence.
Notable among the other deals: French AI company Mistral AI agreed a long-term strategic cooperation framework with Saudi Arabia’s HUMAIN, covering joint development of AI models, computing capacity, and commercialisation. On the defence side, the two nations signed a letter of intent to deepen cooperation on emerging military technologies, cybersecurity and training exchanges. Separately, financing arrangements backed by the French state through Bpifrance Assurance Export were also agreed, including up to $3 billion in financing tied to Saudi Arabia’s energy sector.
Taken together, officials estimated the full package of agreements exceeded $10 billion in value, reflecting the scale of the strategic and economic relationship the two governments are seeking to build.
Controversy Alongside the Celebration
Not all reaction to the visit was positive. Several French journalist unions, including the SNJ-CGT, CFDT-Journalistes and SGJ-FO, issued a joint statement criticising the visit, pointing to an ongoing French investigation into torture and forced disappearance linked to a 2021 complaint over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. US intelligence assessments have previously concluded that the crown prince was directly involved in Khashoggi’s death, a conclusion Saudi officials have consistently disputed.
Human rights organisations have voiced similar concerns in the past regarding high-profile diplomatic visits by the crown prince to Western capitals, framing them as attempts to normalise Saudi Arabia’s international standing despite unresolved human rights questions.
What It Means for Paris
Regardless of the political controversy surrounding the visit, the scale of the investment itself is likely to have a tangible economic impact on the Paris region. If completed as planned, the development would represent one of the largest entertainment infrastructure investments in France since the construction of Disneyland Paris itself, potentially reshaping the tourism landscape northwest of the capital and offering a substantial, if geopolitically complex, boost to local employment. Also Read
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