# Saudi Arabia and France Sign More Than $10bn in Deals, Including Routes That Bypass Hormuz

A $7bn Saudi-financed theme park complex near Paris sits alongside talks on pipelines, ports and rail intended to move Gulf energy without entering the strait.

- Published: 2026-08-25T05:15:26.915Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-08-25/saudi-arabia-and-france-sign-more-than-10bn-in-deals-includi
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: geopolitics
- Sources: [Al Jazeera](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/25/france-saudi-arabia-agree-on-7bn-theme-park-project-near-paris), [Ynet](https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/sksocf5wmx)

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ended a two-day state visit to Paris with agreements that Al-Monitor [values at more than $10bn](https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2026/08/france-saudi-arabia-announce-more-10b-deals-mbs-visit). Al Jazeera reports the [package spans energy, defense, artificial intelligence and tourism](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/25/france-saudi-arabia-agree-on-7bn-theme-park-project-near-paris), with a $7bn theme park project near the French capital as its most visible element.

Israeli outlet Ynet describes the theme parks in more detail, reporting that Riyadh will [finance and build three of them](https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/sksocf5wmx) close to Paris, including one based on the Japanese franchise Dragon Ball. It quotes an adviser to President Emmanuel Macron saying that Macron and the crown prince share an interest in manga, and reports that French officials rejected criticism of placing a project of this scale under Saudi ownership, saying they had not come to lecture others.

The more consequential part of the visit received less attention. Bloomberg reported before the talks that the two governments would discuss [energy and logistics routes that avoid the Strait of Hormuz](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-21/macron-and-saudi-prince-to-focus-on-hormuz-deals-in-paris-talks), including new pipeline capacity, alternative port networks and regional rail. The trip was the crown prince's first trip abroad since Saudi Arabia signed a trilateral defense agreement with Turkey and Pakistan on August 7.

## What this means

Saudi Arabia is securing two things at once. One is European industrial partnership. The other is physical redundancy around a chokepoint that a naval conflict has shown to be unreliable. Every pipeline, port and rail link built to bypass Hormuz permanently raises the capital cost of Gulf energy exports, and that cost is recovered in the price buyers pay. French engineering, defense and infrastructure firms gain new business, and Riyadh diversifies its political dependence away from Washington at the same time it diversifies its export routes.

## What to watch

- Whether the Hormuz bypass discussions produce funded projects with construction timelines rather than memoranda.
- How Washington responds to a European power deepening defense ties with Riyadh weeks after the Mecca defense pact with Turkey and Pakistan.
- Tanker traffic through the strait, the measure of whether commercial shipping believes the risk has receded.