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The Royal Commission for Al-Ula (RCU) has signed a partnership agreement with France’s Bouygues Construction covering the construction management of the Sharaan Resort and International Summit Centre at Al-Ula.

Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, the Sharaan hotel will be built into the rockface of the mountains in the Al-Ula Nature Reserve. The resort features 40 rooms and covers a floor area of 37,860 square metres. In addition to building work, the project includes extensive civil engineering works and tunnelling.

The project has been in the design and planning stages for several years. MEED reported in 2021 that companies had been invited to bid for construction work.

The project is the second to be secured by Bouygues in recent years. In late 2021, it won the contract to deliver the Six Flags theme park at Qiddiya in a joint venture with the local Almabani General Contractors. 

READ MORE: Bouygues deal is a great advert for Saudi construction

The Bouygues partnership is the latest sign that French companies are playing a leading role in the development of Al-Ula.

Saudi Arabia and France signed an intergovernmental agreement in April 2018 relating to the sustainable development of the region and its transformation into a world-class cultural and tourism destination.

The French Agency for Al-Ula Development (Afalula) was then created to support the RCU.

Other agreements with French companies and institutions include RCU's 360 Mobility plan services contract with RATP Dev and a contract with a consortium of Setec, Egis and Assystem (SEA) to design and deliver infrastructure.

“We are proud of Afalula’s success in mobilising an innovative ecosystem of French companies,” said Gerard Mestrallet, the agency's executive chairman.

“In five years, 250 contracts have been signed between French companies and our Saudi partners, representing a total budget of €1.6bn [$1.7bn].”