Saudi prince skips visit to mega tech incubator during French trip

PARIS (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday pulled out of touring a mega-campus for tech startups in Paris, an official in the French prime minister’s office said, a visit that was meant to highlight deepening Franco-Saudi tech ties.

The powerful young prince who is behind modernizing reforms in Saudi Arabia is on a three-day trip to France at a time when relations between the two countries have become more complicated, including over how to address Iran’s regional role.

He is not expected to sign mega contracts in France as he did during visits to the United States and Britain over the last month.

“It has been decided to keep working on defining Franco-Saudi entrepreneurial projects before envisaging a high-level visit,” the Matignon source said.

Prince Mohammed, 32, and President Emmanuel Macron both paint themselves as champions of their nations’ plugged-in youths with a modernizing message that has resonated strongly with younger Saudis and French citizens.

Prince Mohammed’s decision to skip a visit to Station F, Europe’s largest startup incubator founded by billionaire Xavier Neil, is likely to disappoint Macron, especially after the crown prince met with technology titans in Silicon Valley last week.

Station F is headed by an Iranian-American, Roxanne Varza, who previously worked at TechCrunch France and Microsoft Ventures.