Saudi Crown Prince arrives in France to meet Macron and discuss Expo bid

In 2021, Kingdom announced its bid to host World Expo 2030 in Riyadh

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman left for France on Wednesday. EPA

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in France on Wednesday on a state visit during which he will meet President Emmanuel Macron and discuss the kingdom's bid to host the World Expo 2030.

Prince Mohammed and Mr Macron will hold talks on Friday to discuss the war in Ukraine, the French presidency said.

The discussions come a month after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended an Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia and called for support, with Prince Mohammed expressing his readiness to mediate between Moscow and Kyiv.

The Saudi Crown Prince is expected to participate in a reception hosted by the kingdom in Paris on June 19 to discuss Riyadh's Expo candidacy, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

He is also leading a delegation that will take part in a global financial summit in Paris on June 22 and June 23.

Saudi Arabia announced its bid to host the Expo in October 2021 and has since made three presentations to the Bureau International des Expositions.

In March, a BIE delegation arrived in Riyadh for a six-day evaluation of Riyadh's candidacy.

The mission's visit is mandatory for a country to be considered as host. Its task is to assess the feasibility and viability of each candidate city.

The next host city will be elected via secret ballot, based on the principle of one country, one vote, at the BIE's 173rd general assembly in November.

Relations between Saudi Arabia and France are strong, with cultural ties deepened by Paris's involvement in the development of the kingdom's historic AlUla region.

Prince Mohammed intends to turn AlUla into a global tourism destination.