Prime Highlights-
- France holds 651 investment licenses across 18 sectors, with about €16.3 billion in FDI stock in Saudi Arabia.
- Saudi Arabia targets up to 3 GW of AI capacity by 2030, with AI partnerships exceeding €19.7 billion.
Key Facts-
- French investment expands beyond energy and industry into AI, digital infrastructure, culture and mining.
- Saudi-France ties gain institutional footing through a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership signed in December 2024.
Background-
A new stage is taking shape in the Saudi France economic partnership, with French capital moving beyond its long-time strongholds in energy and industry into artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, culture, creative industries and mining.
The shift lines up with the broader economic transformation underway across Saudi Arabia under Vision 2030, built on diplomatic ties spanning more than a hundred years.
Among sources of foreign direct investment stock in Saudi Arabia, France ranks fourth, with contributions nearing €16.3 billion by 2024. French firms carry 651 investment licenses across 18 sectors, and manufacturing accounts for close to 60 percent of that total stock. That investment stock has doubled across three years, and license numbers have grown in step, 90 came in 2024, followed by 127 in 2025.
Companies that laid the groundwork for the relationship, TotalEnergies, ENGIE, Alstom, Sanofi, Veolia, and Accor among them, are now broadening their presence as new industries open up in the Kingdom.
The sharpest growth is showing up in artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure. Saudi Arabia landed first place on the 2025 ITU ICT Development Index, and its digital economy accounted for close to 16 percent of GDP in 2024. Objectives are set for achieving 3 GW of capacity of AI infrastructure by 2030, where already declared AI partnerships are valued more than €19.7 billion.
Both nations have enhanced their institutional credibility by entering into a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, in addition to setting up a Strategic Partnership Council during a state visit in December 2024. The bilateral trade reached €10.1 billion in 2025, showing an increase of 7.2 percent as compared to the previous year.
