At Bercy, we do not hide his satisfaction. As the Choose France summit opens on July 11, an annual meeting dedicated to since 2018 the attractiveness of France, the most important announcement of this 2022 edition was negotiated by the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire. It consists of a joint investment by the French STMicroelectronics and the American GlobalFoundries for an amount of 5.7 billion euros, with the key to a thousand direct jobs and even more indirect jobs. Eventually, in 2026, this should enable the Crolles site (Isère) to double its production capacity of electronic components, from 550,000 parts to 1.2 million. In this case FD-SOI components, with low power consumption, particularly useful in mobility situations.
Negotiations have been going on for several months. “This is one of the toughest negotiations I have ever had to lead”explains Mr. Le Maire, who believes that this is the‘”the most strategic investment in France since that on nuclear power: without semiconductors, there is no industry in the 21e century “. The idea is not only to increase production, but also in the future to produce components below 10 nanometers. A technology not developed in France, at the risk of dependence on other nations.
To achieve his goals, the Bercy tenant has multiplied meetings with the management of GlobalFoundries, including in the United States, and Tom Caufield, CEO of the American company, was even received by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, who is also involved in this file. Discussions that remained secret for almost two years. With the Covid-19 crisis, and the ensuing shortages, semiconductors, particularly important in automotive and aeronautics, have been identified as a strategic sector. For a time, discussions were also held with Intel, without success. The company finally preferred Germany to France for its European site.
In the STMicroelectronics-GlobalFoundries file, competition was also fierce between European states, but the aid provided by France, in particular via the France 2030 plan, finally convinced the American group.
change of foot
On the executive side, we assume the change of foot of the Choose France summit. In its early days, the event honored the major digital companies (Google, Facebook). Today, “there is a reorientation towards industrial sovereignty”, admits Mr. Le Maire, who believes that France is now, with Germany, the other heavyweight of semiconductors in Europe.
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