French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian inaugurated in Paris on Tuesday the Saudi-French CEOs Forum, reported the Saudi Press Agency. The forum is organized by the Saudi Center for Strategic Partnerships as part of the activities held on the sidelines of the visit paid to France by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense. The forum aims to define features of economic investment and open new horizons of cooperation and partnerships between Saudi Arabia and France in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. In a speech at the opening session, Le Drian highlighted the historic relations between Saudi Arabia and France that date back to 1967. He underlined the importance of strengthening security, energy, economic, scientific, cultural and technological ties between the two countries. He affirmed that Paris is the third greatest investing country in the Kingdom following the United States and Kuwait, pointing out that 80 French companies are operating in the Kingdom, providing over 27,000 jobs. A number of cooperation arrangements and prospective commercial collaborations were signed and discussed between Saudi partners and French counterparts during the forum. In a key address at the forum, Saudi Aramco President and CEO Amin H. Nasser said that the company has a massive and highly ambitious investment program for the next decade as part of its ambition for expansion. This includes a number of mega world scale projects where French businesses can play a major role in providing the strategic mix of technical capabilities and innovation. “With Vision 2030, I believe there are more opportunities for collaboration and partnerships, not only in the oil and gas sector, but also in infrastructure, manufacturing and services industries which are critical to manage and operate an enterprise like Saudi Aramco,” he stressed.