French President Emmanuel Macron begins a three-day state visit to Saudi Arabia this Monday, December 2. The Saudi Kingdom is the second largest arms importer in the world and the first in terms of military spending in the region. And as such, it is of particular interest to French defense companies. Saudi Arabia also wants to diversify its economy.
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On the French arms order book, theSaudi Arabia was the second largest country last year.
“ There France has sold a lot of equipment historically, for many years, to Saudi Arabia », Explains Renaud Bellais, who co-directs the Defense Observatory of the Jean Jaurès foundation, also advisor for the missile manufacturer MBDA.
“ Many countries are either their own producers, and therefore do not import, or have partnerships with other countries such as the United States or Russia. Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, are open markets, in the sense that they are willing to purchase equipment from multiple suppliers », he adds.
Possible arms contracts closely scrutinized
France would particularly like to sell fighter planes, Rafale, to the Saudi Kingdom. But possible arms contracts will be closely scrutinized, as UN experts accuse Riyadh of war crimes Yemen.
“ Today, the difficulty is to imagine that we can still sell weapons to Saudi Arabia with a potential risk of use in Yemen », Points out Aymeric Elluin, weapons advocacy officer for Amnesty International. “ There is no indication that France would have obtained new guarantees that its equipment would be used in compliance with international humanitarian law by Saudi Arabia, potentially, for example, in Yemen. »
According to the NGO, Saudi Arabia has not taken any measures until now to shed light on possible war crimes committed in Yemen, in the conflict which has lasted since 2014.
The economic diversification of the Kingdom
The signing of contracts will not be the only issue of the visit, given the situation in the region, in the midst of the war in Gaza and after the signing of a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. But France still hopes to benefit from Riyadh’s desire to diversify its economy and move away from all-oil production.
“ There is obviously the desire to continue to develop economic relations since in addition, there is a meeting on site, there is a summit on water in which the French president will participate; which is also part of the crown prince’s major Vision 2030 plan. This is his major plan », notes David Rigoulet-Roze, researcher at the French Institute of Strategic Analysis.
There is a paradigm shift in Saudi Arabia. It is within this framework that the efforts of multiple economic partnerships fall, moreover. France is one of its privileged relationships.
David Rigoulet-Roze, researcher at the French Institute of Strategic Analysis
Due to very volatile oil prices, the Saudi petromonarchy has, however, lowered its ambitions on certain projects in recent months, notably on investments abroad and on its future giant city The Line. Instead of accommodating 1.5 million inhabitants, the city located in the middle of the desert should ultimately only accommodate 300,000.
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