France signs deals worth $10 bn with Saudi Arabia

France on Tuesday announced a series of deals worth 10 billion euros ($11.4 billion) with Saudi Arabia, during a visit by Prime Minister Manuel Valls.

“France-Saudi Arabia: 10 billion euros in contracts,” he wrote in a tweet.

The deals include contracts and letters of intent between the two countries whose economic and political bonds have been strengthening.

Among the agreements is a Saudi order for 30 patrol boats.

The deals also cover energy, health, food, satellites and infrastructure, according to the prime minister’s office.

The announcement came during the third high-level visit by French officials to the world’s biggest oil exporter this year.

France has been reinforcing links with the conservative Islamic kingdom -- the Arab world’s largest economy.

Valls on Monday night opened a forum to promote commercial ties between firms from the two countries.

He is on a regional tour which earlier took him to Jordan and Egypt, along with Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius