Saudi Arabia inks cultural cooperation agreements with France

Saudi Arabia and France signed a number of agreements in the fields of culture and tourism on Monday, including artistic exchanges that comprise training for Saudi filmmakers.

The deals came as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s three-day visit to France.

Saudi Minister of Culture and Information Awwad bin Al Awwad, who held a meeting with his French counterpart Francoise Nyssen, signed a cooperation agreement in the fields of culture, arts, cinema industry, theater and music, state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Al-Awwad also announced that Saudi Arabia will participate in Cannes Film Festival 2018 with two nominated films, through a pavilion sponsored by Saudi Film Council.

The Saudi minister also oversaw the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Saudi Arabia’s communication center and the French Press Agency.

Earlier, cooperation deals were also signed to allow National Opera of Paris to help the Saudis set up a national orchestra and an opera.

Meanwhile, Crown Prince Mohammed and UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay held a meeting, during which they discussed development opportunities in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 reform program.