40 Saudi companies are looking for new investment opportunities in France
The delegation of the Federation of Saudi Chambers, headed by the President of the Union, Mr. Abdullah bin Saleh Kamel, accompanied by the Secretary-General, Eng. Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Musallam, and the Chairman of the Saudi-French Business Council, Dr. Muhammad bin Laden, and with the participation of more than 40 major Saudi companies and investors, concluded a five-day working visit to the French Republic, during which he participated in the work of the “Gulf Vision 2026” Forum, and held a series of high-level meetings and encounters with government officials, economic institutions, and business leaders. Prominent, with the aim of strengthening the economic partnership between the Kingdom and France and exploring opportunities for cooperation and investment in priority sectors.
The delegation began its visit by participating in the annual dinner of the Saudi-French Business Council, hosted by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the presence of government officials and business leaders from both countries, where the prospects for economic cooperation and the expansion of the network of relations between the Saudi private sector and its French counterpart were reviewed, and promising investment opportunities in a number of strategic sectors were discussed.
Over two days, the delegation participated in the Gulf Vision 2026 Forum, one of the most prominent French Gulf economic platforms, which was organized by Business France with the participation of government officials, investors and business leaders from France and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
During a dialogue session at the forum, Engineer Sultan Al-Musallam, Secretary-General of the Federation, briefed French investors on the economic developments and qualitative transformations taking place in the Kingdom, stressing that the Saudi private sector continues to strengthen its role as a major driver of the national economy, as its contribution reached 54% of the gross domestic product in 2025 with a value of 2.6 trillion riyals, supported by economic reforms that exceeded 920 reforms and Vision 2030 programs. He also pointed to the growing Saudi-French economic relations, as the volume of exchange increased. Trade between the two countries will reach 44.2 billion riyals ($11.7 billion) in 2025, a growth of 7.2%, while French investments are among the largest foreign investments in the Kingdom, with their concentration in the energy, infrastructure, logistics services and tourism sectors.
The delegation also held a number of important meetings, most notably the meeting with the French President’s Advisor for Investment and Export Promotion and Trade and Tourism Policies at the Elysee Palace, where the two sides discussed ways to enhance economic and investment cooperation and activate the participation of Saudi and French companies in promising markets, in addition to the importance of the participation of French companies in major development projects and the Expo 2030 Riyadh, which contributes to diversifying the areas of economic and investment cooperation between the two countries.
MEDEF International, the largest gathering of French business owners and companies, met in the presence of CEOs of major companies, where investment opportunities and strategic projects related to Vision 2030 were reviewed, and opportunities for building qualitative partnerships between the private sector in the two countries were discussed, which contributes to increasing the volume of trade and investment exchange and attracting qualitative investments.
The visit included a meeting with officials of the Arab World Institute in Paris, and a tour of the “Jubail – Millennium City” exhibition, where the delegation was briefed on a number of cultural initiatives aimed at promoting civilizational dialogue and cultural exchange, and highlighting the role of culture as a support for economic and development relations between countries.
In addition to the meeting with representatives of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI France), the French-Arab Chamber of Commerce (CCFA), and the Paris Region Chamber of Commerce and Industry, during which mechanisms for enhancing institutional cooperation between chambers of commerce, facilitating communication between the two business communities, and supporting companies wishing to benefit from the investment opportunities available in the two countries were discussed.
This visit comes in light of the growing momentum witnessed by Saudi-French economic relations, which reflects the strength of economic relations, as well as the pioneering role played by the Saudi-French Business Council since its establishment in 2003 in strengthening the partnership between the Saudi and French business communities and supporting trade and investment cooperation between them.
