The Emirati President “MBZ” in Paris: a symbolic visit

France’s best friend in the Arabian Peninsula arrived in Paris on Sunday July 17 for a two-day official visit. This trip has a historic dimension since it is the first official trip abroad since Mohamed bin Zayed (“MBZ”) took over as President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in mid-May. The arrival of the strongman of this extremely wealthy state made up of seven emirates, should not however lead to a myriad of hard and stumbling contracts. “The main focus of the visit will focus on energy with expected announcements of Emirati guarantees concerning the quantities of diesel supplied to France” specifies a diplomatic source.

Dominated by hydrocarbons, UAE exports to France reached an all-time high of 1.5 billion euros in 2019, much of it refined petroleum products, but the Emirates do not currently supply diesel to France. . Since the start of the war in Ukraine, France, which, like the European Union, has decided on an embargo on Russian black gold, has regularly appealed to the Emirati ally. “The UAE is ready to help France but they can’t work miracles either,” observes Bertrand Besancenot, former French ambassador to Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Emirati oil production, like Saudi, is close to its ceiling. It is therefore difficult to believe that the UAE will fill the gap induced by the embargo against Moscow.” On tour in the Gulf, Joe Biden has just suffered a polite refusal from Saudi Arabia, which reaffirmed that it was not in a position to raise the level of its production of black gold to stop the surge in prices.

Mubadala in support of the tricolor economy

Beyond the oil issue, agreements could be signed in the field of energy transition, in particular concerning projects related to hydrogen. “There will be announcements but they will be modest compared to Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Dubai in December 2021” continues the aforementioned diplomatic source. On this occasion, the UAE announced the purchase of 80 Rafale fighter jets, a record mega-contract estimated at 14 billion euros. This is the “largest military contract with a French component in our history”, welcomed Emmanuel Macron. The Emirates are currently the fifth most important customer of the French defense industry over the decade 2011-2020, with 4.7 billion euros in order intake, according to the report to Parliament on arms exports from the France.

Read alsoHow Macron wants to put France back in the Middle East

While “MBZ” met the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, this Monday morning, the Elysée also wanted to give this visit a strong economic connotation as illustrated by the fact that the Emirati president was welcomed on Sunday in his descent from the plane by the boss of Bercy, Bruno Le Maire.

In December, the powerful Emirati sovereign wealth fund Mubadala announced commitments of eight billion euros, including six with the Ministry of the Economy, to significantly increase its investment envelope in French companies. “It is a very important partnership which reflects the importance given to France by the United Arab Emirates”, analyzes the former diplomat François-Aïssa Touazi, senior managing director in the French fund Ardian. “The support of the UAE in a way allows the executive to finance its reindustrialization projects” judges our diplomatic source.

It should also be noted that a Franco-Emirati business council should meet on Tuesday and be co-chaired by the CEO of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, and by Sultan Al-Jaber, the boss of Adnoc, the Emirati national oil company. .

Paris-Abu Dhabi axis

Regarding the cultural dimension of cooperation, it is not certain that the arrival of “MBZ” will lead to great progress. Last December, the Louvre Abu Dhabi license agreement was extended for ten years, until 2047, with a payment of 165 million euros, testifying to the success of the museum opened in 2017 in the Emirates.

As most observers point out, the move of “MBZ” to France is above all symbolic. It reflects the increasingly strong bond between the two countries. “The relationship between Macron and ‘MBZ’ is very good, argues Bertrand Besancenot.

For example, when Abu Dhabi airport was targeted by attacks by the Houthis (pro-Iranian Yemeni rebels) in early 2022, France very quickly condemned these acts.” Emmanuel Macron was also able to count on the support of the Emirati ally in 2020 when a wave of anti-French protests broke out in some Muslim countries after remarks by the French president defending the right to caricature in the name of freedom of expression. Finally, it is also thanks to “MBZ” that Emmanuel Macron had been received urgently in Riyadh on November 8, 2017 and a few days later obtained the release of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri.