France’s special envoy for <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/2023/07/25/french-envoy-jean-yves-le-drian-lands-in-lebanon-while-presidential-deadlock-persists/" target="_blank">Lebanon</a> and veteran diplomat <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/lebanon/2023/06/08/french-leader-macron-appoints-le-drian-to-help-break-lebanons-political-deadlock/" target="_blank">Jean-Yves Le Drian</a> is taking on a new role representing French-Saudi collaborative efforts at <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/travel-and-tourism/2023/05/03/private-investment-playing-an-increasing-role-in-saudi-arabias-alula-tourism-chief-says/" target="_blank">AlUla</a>. The site is a centrepiece of the kingdom’s drive to raise the status of its national heritage and boost tourism. The news was revealed on Thursday in an official French government statement announcing Mr Le Drian had been appointed president of the French Agency for the Development of AlUla. A French government source told <i>The National </i>that Mr Le Drian would remain in his role as special envoy to Lebanon, in addition to taking on his new position. Congratulating him on Twitter, now rebranded as X, Ludovic Pouille, France’s ambassador to the kingdom, said he would be “pleased to work with him to strengthen the exceptional partnership between France and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to make AlUla, the jewel of humanity, a model of sustainable tourism in the twenty-first century”. Mr Le Drian, 76, who served as France’s foreign minister between 2017 and 2022 and previously as minister of defence, took on the role of France’s special envoy for Lebanon at the request of President Emanuel Macron last month. He became known in the role for taking a tough line on the Lebanese elite, whom he said had created "deliberate obstruction” to block reforms and unlock aid packages from Europe and the IMF, and had repeatedly failed to break political deadlock. As recently as Wednesday, he was meeting members of the Lebanese elite amid efforts in Beirut to elect a new president. His new role will include promoting a joint Saudi-French effort to raise the international profile of AlUla, a Unesco World Heritage site built in the 6th century BC. Located on the former "incense road" that linked Asia and Europe, Riyadh has worked closely with France to develop the site through a partnership between the Saudi Royal Commission of AlUla and the French Agency for AlUla Development, which was formed in 2018.