For its 5th consecutive edition, the “Choose France” fair will bring together 180 major foreign bosses of 43 different nationalities this Monday at the Palace of Versailles. The objective is to convince these major decision-makers from all over the world to invest on national soil. It is a question of “wetting the jersey to defend France with these foreign players, so that in their investment decisions, they can obviously favor France and set up their company’s sites there”, we specify. the Elysee.
Merck and Coke
Among the figures of large multinationals: the CEO of Coca-Cola James Quincey, the executive director of the German laboratory Merck or Liang Xinjun of Fosun International who also works in the field of health. “All sectors from all over the world are represented. Which makes us particularly proud, since the event has been organized since the re-election of the President of the Republic”, continues the Elysée.
Industry first
Concretely, this year, the German chemical group BASF has invested 300 million euros in the Haut-Rhin, with around sixty jobs at stake. The American company Eastman, which does recycling, gave France the benefit of an envelope of 850 million euros to set up a factory in Seine-Maritime. “Typically, these are projects that fit into the context of the France 2030 recovery plan”, comments the Elysée.
80 investment announcements
Since the start of the year, 80 investment announcements have been made by major international groups in France. This represents 11.7 billion euros, creating 21,000 “permanent” jobs according to the Elysée. Around this 5th edition of the “Choose France” show, the business leaders present have already committed to signing 6.7 billion euros of investment, around 14 major projects.
A negative balance
However, the balance of investments between France and abroad remains negative. According to the latest figures from INSEE, French companies have invested 1,260 billion euros abroad, against 745 billion which have been in France, from abroad. “We should not consider this balance according to a positive or negative approach, since it is very dependent on large mergers and acquisitions. Having a lot of capital flowing out because large French companies have taken over their foreign competitors is rather favorable. What we are looking at in the context of Choose France are the investments on national soil which are indicative of job creation and reindustrialization, ”replies the Elysée.
20 members of the government and the president at the Hall of Mirrors
To ensure all of these investments and project promises, around twenty members of the government will be present at the Palace of Versailles, including the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire and the Minister of Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
Exchanges, round tables and friendly moments are planned with these greats of the international industry. It is indeed the prestigious setting of the Hall of Mirrors that has been chosen, since 2017, to organize the event. Emmanuel Macron, himself, will participate in the dinner, which will be held behind closed doors, at the end of the day.
Most of these investment projects benefit the industrial fabric of the Ile-de-France region, but 14% are intended for Hauts-de-France and 11% for the Grand Est. And if they mainly concern industry, all sectors benefit from them: agri-food, IT, electronics, transport equipment, etc.