Hard on the heels of the highly successful US visit, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman led another high-powered delegation to France. By all accounts, this trip has also been outstanding.
Strong and fruitful relations with the US are the bedrock of foreign policy. But ties with France are equally important and crucial. The French have historic connections with the Arab world. Relations between Riyadh and Paris strengthened almost 50 years ago. Back then, King Faisal and French President Charles de Gaulle in 1967 forged new ties. Ever since, those connections have only become stronger.
This became clear during the deputy crown prince's meetings with President Francois Hollande, Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. There was a genuine warmth and friendship in these encounters.
France and the Kingdom have the same stand on Middle East issues. Both countries want regional peace and stability. Both deplore the misery of Syria and agree that Bashar Assad cannot be part of any solution. Both agree that Moscow and Tehran have damaged efforts to end the Syrian conflict. Both see eye to eye on Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon. And perhaps most crucially, both countries have been the victims of significant acts of terrorism.
Geopolitically Saudi Arabia and France are on the same sheet. In their experience of terrorism, they are on the same line. An effective Saudi-Franco security agreement has been in force since 2008. The Kingdom has shared its counter-terrorism expertise with its allies. France has been a significant beneficiary. Relations between the security forces of both countries are close. They present a united front against the terror menace. French Sen. Nathalie Goulet this week spoke for fellow legislators when she praised the Kingdom’s anti-terror role and called for even stronger bilateral ties.
The military connection is hardly less important. The Royal Saudi Air Force and navy fly French helicopters and the main warplanes are European Typhoons and Tornado jets. This defense connection is significant.
A key component of Saudi Vision 2030 is the development of a local defense sector. This will see a massive transfer of technology and expertise. It will provide jobs for highly-trained Saudi graduates. It will boost the Kingdom’s role as the major regional manufacturing power. The French were every bit as interested as the Americans in the significant opportunities available here.
What clearly impressed the French was that the deputy crown prince came in person to explain Vision 2030. He brought with him top-level ministers and officials. The delegation had answers to all the questions the French posed. It was made clear how the extraordinary ambitions of Vision 2030 will be achieved. The foundational role of the National Transformation Program was set out plainly.
The opportunities for corporate France to assist in the radical strengthening of the Saudi economy were obvious. It is ranked as the Kingdom’s eighth most important trading partner. It is the 15th largest customer for Saudi exports. French-Saudi trade reached 7 billion euros in 2015, with the Kingdom the world number one exporter of oil to France. It is equally significant that France is the third biggest investor in the Kingdom. Its investments currently stand at $15.3 billion. By the same token, three percent of Saudi investments are in France. Gulf Cooperation Council investments in France are no less compelling. Some 30 percent of GCC’s overseas commitments are in the French economy.
These figures demonstrate the opportunities for both countries. Prince Mohammed has cleared the decks for foreign investment. Strategic overseas investors are essential for Vision 2030. The private sector’s share of the economy will increase from 40 percent to 65 percent in the next 14 years. That will only be achieved through the participation of foreign companies. This is being encouraged by benign regulation, fast-track bureaucratic processes, a clear commercial code, attractive incentives and competitive tax codes.
The Kingdom takes seriously its responsibilities as a member of the World Trade Organization. Foreign companies can arrive and work on their own account or in partnership with Saudi businesses. Participation in the Kingdom’s bond and equity markets is open to the world’s largest fund managers.
In the wake of the deputy crown prince’s successful US tour, officials have been busy ironing out the details of deals. That process is now being repeated in Riyadh and Paris. The genius of these two personal visits is that they have unlocked the enthusiasm of two of the Kingdom’s most important geopolitical partners. The Americans and French have been galvanized by the ambitions of Vision 2030. They are now busy organizing their own participation in it.
Saudi-French ties touch new heights
Saudi-French ties touch new heights
Editorial: Iran must not go unpunished
- Arab News argues that while war is always a last resort, an international response is a must to curb Iranian meddling
- US strikes worked well when Assad used chemical weapons against his people
The attacks on Tuesday by armed drones on Saudi oil-pumping stations, and two days beforehand on oil tankers off the coast of Fujairah in the UAE, represent a serious escalation on the part of Iran and its proxies, should the initial conclusions of an international investigation prove to be accurate.
Riyadh has constantly warned world leaders of the dangers that Iran poses, not only to Saudi Arabia and the region, but also to the entire world. This is something former President Obama did not realize until the Iran-backed Houthis attacked the US Navy three times in late 2016. The recent attacks on oil tankers and oil pipelines were aimed at subverting the world economy by hitting directly at the lifeline of today’s world of commerce. Tehran should not get away with any more intimidation, or be allowed to threaten global stability.
It was in 2008 that the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz called upon the US to “cut off the head of the snake,” in reference to the malign activities of Iran. Nearly a decade later, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman referred to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the “new Hitler of the Middle East.” We are in 2019 and Iran continues to wreak havoc in the region, both directly and through its well armed proxies. Crown Prince Mohammed was therefore clearly correct when he argued that appeasement does not work with the Iranian regime, just as it did not work with Hitler. The next logical step — in this newspaper’s view — should be surgical strikes. The US has set a precedent, and it had a telling effect: The Trump strikes on Syria when the Assad regime used Sarin gas against its people.
We argue this because it is clear that sanctions are not sending the right message. If the Iranian regime were not too used to getting away with their crimes, they would have taken up the offer from President Trump to get on the phone and call him in order to reach a deal that would be in the best interests of the Iranian people themselves. As the two recent attacks indicate, the Iranians insist on disrupting the flow of energy around the world, putting the lives of babies in incubators at risk, threatening hospitals and airports, attacking civilian ships and putting innocent lives in danger. As the case always is with the Iranian leadership, they bury their heads in the sand and pretend that they have done nothing. Nevertheless, investigations indicate that they were behind the attack on our brothers in the UAE while their Houthi militias targeted the Saudi pipelines.
Our point of view is that they must be hit hard. They need to be shown that the circumstances are now different. We call for a decisive, punitive reaction to what happened so that Iran knows that every single move they make will have consequences. The time has come for Iran not only to curb its nuclear weapon ambitions — again in the world’s interest — but also for the world to ensure that they do not have the means to support their terror networks across the region.
We respect the wise and calm approach of politicians and diplomats calling for investigations to be completed and all other options to be exhausted before heading to war. In the considered view of this newspaper, there has to be deterrent and punitive action in order for Iran to know that no sinister act will go unpunished; that action, in our opinion, should be a calculated surgical strike.
