Saudi Arabia announced Monday that it will take part in next month’s Cannes Film Festival with nine short films.
The Kingdom will also employ French expertise to set up a national opera and orchestra, under an agreement signed Monday during a visit to Paris by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense.
The deal will see the Paris Opera company help the Kingdom produce its own classical music and shows.
At Cannes, Riyadh will send an official delegation to the celebration of often edgy and subversive silver-screen festival on the Riviera.
"I cannot think of a better partner for culture and art than France," Saudi Culture Minister Awwad Alawwad told AFP.
This will mark the Kingdom’s first official participation at the annual event.
Prince Mohammed, 32, was hosted by President Emmanuel Macron for a three-hour dinner at Paris's Louvre museum Sunday night after flying in on his first trip to France as heir to the Saudi throne.
Macron also tweeted a picture of the pair at the Louvre.
"The discussions were friendly, which allowed the two men to establish a personal relationship," Macron's office said.
The two leaders will now work on a "strategic document" involving a series of contracts to be signed by Macron during a visit to Saudi Arabia later this year, his office said.
Macron, 40, will host the prince for a gala dinner at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday.
Prince Mohammed's visit is part of a global tour that has already seen him travel to the United States, Britain and Egypt.
Saudi and French aides stressed before the trip that cultural ties, as well as new business opportunities, would be at the heart of two days of talks between government and private-sector figures from both countries.
In February, Saudi Arabia's General Entertainment Authority (GEA) announced it would stage more than 5,000 festivals and concerts in 2018, double the number last year, and pump $64 billion in the sector in the coming decade.
The announcement about the Cannes film festival came after Prince Mohammed dined last week in Hollywood with media mogul Rupert Murdoch, along with film studio bosses and famed American actors including Morgan Freeman.
