His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Prime Minister, received recently a phone call from French President Emmanuel Macron.
During the call, they reviewed bilateral relations and aspects of joint cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and France, in addition to discussing the most prominent regional and international issues and developments and the efforts exerted towards them to enhance security and stability.
During the call, views were exchanged on a number of issues of common concern.
Saudi -French relations
Relations between France and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are based on common strategic interests represented in maintaining security in the troubled region, making joint efforts to combat terrorism, and converging views on crises in the region.
The regular bilateral official visits are the best evidence of the strength of the strategic partnership between France and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
It allows for deepening the dialogue between the two countries on these issues and provides a reliable framework for delivering messages related to issues that France is keen on, such as respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially women’s freedoms, as well as a clear condemnation of resorting to the death penalty.
Saudi Vision 2030
The Saudi Vision 2030 plan opens new horizons for French enterprises, especially in the areas of sustainable cities, resource management, health and training, energies, tourism, and investment.
In order for the French offer to attract the Kingdom’s interest to the maximum extent, it must meet the three criteria applied in the new economic arrangements that the Saudi authorities seek to implement and the “Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030” plan, namely technology transfer, the Saudization of jobs and training.
Cooperation in the educational sector
The educational sector in France has become attracting more Saudi students, as there are one thousand four hundred Saudi students who are currently pursuing their studies in France, within the framework of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques’ external scholarship program, which funds the sending of one hundred and thirty thousand students abroad.
As for university education, three Saudi universities have departments for teaching French.
In the field of health, the training program for specialized doctors, based on a government agreement signed in 2011, has allowed hundreds of doctors to receive since 2006.
In the field of research, a scientific cooperation agreement was concluded between King Abdul-Aziz City for Science and Technology and the National Center for Scientific Research in 2016, which resulted in the establishment of high-level cooperation programs.
