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France says to help Saudi Arabia set up orchestra, opera
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This file photo taken on Oct.24 shows Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attending the Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference in Riyadh. The war of words between Saudi Arabia and Iran reflects a growing rivalry between the regional heavyweights, but experts believe the risk of a direct military clash between them is low.
(AFP/Fayez Nureldine)
F
rance is to help Saudi Arabia set up a national orchestra and opera, a minister announced Monday, in a further sign of major cultural changes underway in the conservative Gulf kingdom.
"Today an agreement was signed with the Paris Opera to help Saudi Arabia set up a national orchestra and an opera," French Culture Minister Francoise Nyssen told a press conference after talks with her Saudi counterpart.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia's crown prince kicked off his official visit to France Monday, part of an image-building global tour as he seeks to revitalise cultural and investment ties with Paris despite lurking tensions.
Prince Mohammed bin Salman, widely known as MBS, dined with President Emmanuel Macron at Paris's historic Louvre museum after flying in Sunday on his first trip to France as the heir to the Saudi throne.
Macron, 40, faces a diplomatic tightrope in talks with the reformist prince as he seeks to bolster ties with the world's top crude exporter, while also managing relations with the kingdom's arch-rival Iran.
A scheduled visit to the Paris-based start-up campus Station F along with French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe was abruptly cancelled, but the two leaders are set to meet for lunch on Monday.
The 32-year-old prince, who spearheads the kingdom's armed forces, is also set to meet French Defence Minister Florence Parly.
Campaigners are mobilising to denounce French weapons exports to Saudi Arabia despite the kingdom's role in the long-running war in Yemen, dubbed the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Three out of four French people believe it is "unacceptable" to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia, according to a poll last month by independent research group YouGov.
