Saudi Arabia to invest $7bn in Paris-area theme parks

Saudi Arabia is to invest six billion euros, about $7 billion, to create three theme parks near Paris under a memorandum of understanding signed with France, the French president's office said Monday.

The Elysee Palace said the parks would be built near Cergy-Pontoise, about 30 kilometres northwest of Paris. The agreement was signed during a two-day visit to France by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The project will be led by Qiddiya, an investment firm that is a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. The French presidency said the parks are expected to create about 22,000 direct jobs, compared with about 20,000 generated by Disneyland Paris.

One of the parks is expected to be manga-themed. The themes of the other two have not been disclosed.

An adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron said the project followed a discussion between Macron and the Saudi crown prince in Riyadh in December 2024, when they found they shared an interest in manga and Dragon Ball Z. Macron called the announcement on X a new global destination.

The Elysee said the parks would be built and opened in stages and that construction was expected to take several years. It did not give an opening date.

The French presidency said two other contracts were signed with French companies during the Saudi prince's visit: a $434 million contract for marine logistics company CMA CGM to help develop Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Islamic Port on the Red Sea, and a $580 million contract with rail transport group Alstom to supply metro carriages for Riyadh's metro.

Mohammed bin Salman's visit drew criticism in France. Three journalists' unions protested Paris's decision to host him, pointing to a live French investigation into allegations of torture and forced disappearance following a 2021 complaint over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Khashoggi, a Saudi critic of the kingdom's ruling family and a US resident, was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. US intelligence concluded that Mohammed bin Salman was directly involved in the killing, and a UN investigation described Khashoggi's death as an extrajudicial killing for which Saudi Arabia is responsible.

Asked about criticism of Saudi Arabia's human rights record, Macron's office said: "At no point, when we attract a project, do we seek to lecture others."