PARIS: 32-year-old Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman landed here today for a three-day first official visit of France. Here FM Jean-Yves Le Drian greeted him at the airport.
France is expecting to profit from his endeavor to transform the conservative kingdom. Though no huge weapons contracts are expected to be signed between the two countries during the three-day visit, France and Saudi Arabia have agreed a new inter-governmental accord to conclude weapons deals.
Saudi Arabia is among the biggest purchasers of French weapons: Dassault and Thales have major contracts in the Kingdom.
An official stated: “In conjunction with the Saudi authorities, France has initiated a new arms export strategy with Saudi Arabia, which until now has been managed by *ODAS. It will now be covered by an intergovernmental agreement between the two countries. The ODAS Company will only provide for the termination of existing contracts.
Meanwhile, French daily Les Echos insinuated at a deal for navy patrol boats from CMN, while Le Telegramme hinted at a possible deal for Caesar artillery canons from Nexter.
Like others, France also wants to join the bandwagon by investing in technology, renewable energy, health and tourism that the Kingdom wants to develop.
It is pertinent to mention here that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman came to France after a 3-day visit of UK and 21-day tour of USA. At the States over US$3.5b worth of arms sales have been promised.
*organization that currently handles French defense interests in Saudi Arabia.
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