JEDDAH, 27 June — Saudi Arabia and France yesterday signed a landmark agreement to promote and protect investments. "The agreement provides the legal guarantees required by investors," Finance and National Economy Minister Dr. Ibrahim Al-Assaf told reporters after signing the accord with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.
"A new phase is starting" in economic ties, De Villepin commented, expressing hope that the agreement would boost French investment in the Kingdom and "quickly benefit" French firms.
Al-Assaf said that the new pact was in line with the economic agreement signed by the two countries in 1975. "It also comes in the backdrop of the Kingdom’s efforts to develop its investment atmosphere," he added.
The Saudi minister called upon businessmen in both countries to make use of the new agreement, which is set to promote joint investments.
This is the fifth such agreement signed by the Kingdom with an EU member state. Previous accords were with Germany, Italy, Belgium and Austria. "We are planning to sign similar accords with other countries," Al-Assaf said.
France is the fourth largest investor in Saudi Arabia, with direct investments of 297 million euros ($299 million).
Paris is also the Kingdom’s sixth largest supplier with four to five percent of the Saudi market, while Riyadh is the second largest Middle East supplier of France in 2001 after the United Arab Emirates.
Saudi-French economic links should also receive a boost from two major projects involving France’s TotalFinaElf and Bouygues.
TotalFinaElf is involved along with Royal Dutch Shell and Conoco in a major gas deal, with projected investment of $5 billion, which the foreign oil firms are now trying to finalize with Saudi Arabia.
Construction, telecoms and electricity group Bouygues is working on a $100-million build-operate-transfer (BOT) project for a state-of-the-art entertainment center in Jeddah.
