French President Emmanuel Macron will embark on a Gulf tour on Friday and Saturday, during which he will visit the UAE, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. It is expected that the trip will involve the announcement of several contracts with French companies, according to an announcement from the Élysée on Tuesday.
During the tour, various topics will be discussed, including Middle Eastern crises, combating terrorism, the crisis in Lebanon, and the elections in Libya, among others. Economically, there may be an announcement regarding the purchase of dozens of Rafale fighter jets by the UAE, although no information has been released by the Élysée or the Dassault aircraft manufacturing group about this.
Macron will arrive in Dubai in the UAE late Thursday night, a day after the Gulf state celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. He will meet with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The French presidency stated that France "has a long-term partnership" with the UAE, noting that the visit "will strengthen it politically, strategically, defensively, as well as economically and culturally."
Following this, Macron will head to Qatar to meet with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, before moving to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on Saturday for a "deep meeting" with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the Élysée.
Macron will be among the first Western officials to meet with the Saudi Crown Prince since the diplomatic crisis that followed the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in his country's consulate in Istanbul in October 2018.
Accompanying Macron on this tour will be Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly, as well as the Minister of Culture, the Minister of Foreign Trade, and heads of major French groups.
