Saudi Arabia and France mark over 100 years of official diplomatic relations, a partnership that has grown from a Jeddah consulate in 1839 into a comprehensive strategic alliance spanning defence, trade, culture and energy.
By Imran Malik | World Affairs & Diplomacy Desk | SharjahNews.ae | MediaBites.com.pk
Based on reporting by Lama Alhamawi, Arab News
One hundred years of official diplomacy. Dozens of state visits. Defence agreements worth billions. Cultural partnerships from AlUla to the Louvre. And a bilateral trade relationship that reached $11.7 billion in 2025, up 7.2% from the previous year.
The Saudi-French relationship is one of the most consistently productive and strategically significant bilateral partnerships in the modern Middle East, and its centenary offers a moment to understand how two nations from dramatically different cultural and political traditions built something genuinely enduring.
Where It Began — Jeddah, 1839
The story begins not in the 20th century but in the 19th. France established the Jeddah Consulate in 1839, making it the region’s first French diplomatic post on the Arabian Peninsula, nearly a century before the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia even formally existed.
Official diplomatic relations began in 1926 when France became one of the first countries to recognise the Kingdom of Hejaz and Najd before its unification in 1932. That early recognition established a foundation of mutual respect that subsequent generations of leadership on both sides have consistently built upon.
The Milestone Moments
The relationship’s evolution tracks through a series of landmark moments that each expanded the bilateral framework in a different direction.
1967 brought King Faisal’s visit to France and his meeting with President Charles de Gaulle, broadening cooperation across multiple sectors. January 1972 produced a landmark military assistance agreement that positioned France as a primary military equipment supplier to the Kingdom and diversified Saudi Arabia’s defence inventory significantly.
January 1977 saw President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing become the first French president to make an official visit to Saudi Arabia. His historic speech saluting Saudi Arabia as a world power amplified the Kingdom’s rising geopolitical weight on the global stage in a way that the visit itself could not have achieved alone.
1978 brought King Khalid to Paris for the first Saudi royal state visit to France, expanding security and cultural exchanges. The following years saw a rhythm of high-level diplomatic momentum that has rarely been interrupted across more than four decades.
Defence, Energy and Economic Depth
The 1972 military framework was updated in 2006 with a new defence cooperation agreement, reflecting both nations’ evolving security priorities. President Sarkozy’s January 2008 visit produced bilateral agreements in oil, gas, and mining, deepening energy sector cooperation.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s first official visit to France in April 2018 produced commercial contracts valued at $18 billion and established the landmark AlUla partnership, one of the most ambitious cultural and heritage development collaborations in the Middle East, developed jointly between Saudi Arabia and France across multiple years with training programmes, eco-friendly infrastructure, French architectural involvement, and cultural exchange institutions.
In June 2015, trade agreements signed during Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Paris were valued at $12 billion, reflecting the commercial scale the relationship had achieved.
The AlUla Story — Culture as Strategic Partnership
AlUla deserves its own paragraph because it represents something genuinely new in Saudi-French relations, the use of cultural heritage development as a vehicle for deep bilateral partnership.
The Villa Hegra foundation was established as the first joint Saudi-French cultural centre in AlUla. The Alliance Française opened centres in Saudi Arabia in 2010. Training programmes were introduced through Campus France to prepare Saudi hospitality professionals for AlUla. The French agency Afalula was founded in Paris specifically to support AlUla’s development.
In October 2019, “AlUla: Wonder of Arabia” was exhibited at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, bringing Saudi cultural heritage to French audiences with institutional support from both governments.
Where They Stand Today
December 2024 saw President Macron make a state visit to Saudi Arabia, with both countries agreeing to advance three primary goals: national development and defence, regional and global stability, and key global issues including climate change.
In September 2025, Saudi Arabia and France jointly submitted a decision to the UN General Assembly to resume the High-Level International Conference on the Two-State Solution and the Question of Palestine, demonstrating the geopolitical alignment that has developed between two countries with historically different regional interests.
In July 2026, Paris became the first international Esports World Cup host city outside Riyadh, reflecting the partnership’s expansion into emerging sectors of the digital and entertainment economy.
Both countries are committed to a joint action plan for 2023 to 2028 focused on artificial intelligence, green logistics, and development in tourism, sports and entertainment. The next hundred years of Saudi-French relations are already being planned.
— Imran Malik | World Affairs and Diplomacy Desk | SharjahNews.ae | MediaBites.com.pk Based on reporting by Lama Alhamawi, Senior Journalist, Arab News
