In July 24, Emmanuel Macron began an unprecedented trip to the Indo-Pacific. A strong symbol of French commitment to this region, he will be the first President of the Republic to visit the island states of the Pacific, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. It should also be an opportunity, by putting an end to a form of inconsistency, to develop presidential and governmental communication in order to enhance and better understand France’s action in the Indo-Pacific.
In the French maximalist conception, the Indo-Pacific covers 52 states. It extends from the eastern coasts of Africa to the South Pacific, and goes from Djibouti to Papeete, from Pretoria to Tokyo. France is a sovereign country there, because seven of its thirteen departments, regions and overseas communities are located there, in the Indian Ocean (Reunion, Mayotte and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands) and in the Pacific (New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Wallis-and-Futuna and Clipperton). Representing more than 90% of the French exclusive economic zone, i.e. nearly 9 million square kilometres, they allow France to have the second maritime domain in the world.
France has major interests there. There are more than 1.6 million French people in French territories, and just over 190,000 officially registered expatriates in the countries of the region, with the largest communities in the United Arab Emirates, China, Australia and Madagascar. In 2022, the Indo-Pacific represented more than 35% of France’s foreign trade (outside the European Union), and France has its largest trade deficit there, with China. There are also more than 120 billion euros of French investment, and increasingly significant foreign investment in France, as evidenced by the recent announcement of the construction of a battery factory by the Taiwanese ProLogium in the North, for more than 5 billion euros.
Consistency and credibility
The French network in the Indo-Pacific is dense and diversified. In addition to 36 embassies covering the entire region, more than 7,000 soldiers are based there, with three sovereignty forces on French territories and two presence forces in Djibouti and the Emirates. At the cultural level, 34 French institutes multiply events, festivals and artist residencies there, such as at the new Villa Swagatam, in India, and 169 Alliances Françaises promote the French language. Scientific cooperation includes 19 Hubert Curien partnerships in 17 countries and offices of French research organizations: National Center for Scientific Research, French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, Pasteur Institute, etc.
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