China Leads Investors at France’s 2019 « Choose France ! » Summit
Just less than a year after France’s initial « Choose France ! » Summit , President Emmanuel Macron once again welcomed 150 leaders of the world’s largest companies (Microsoft, Uber, Coca, HSBC, Heineken, BMW, Nokia, Samsung…) to the Château de Versailles to announce new foreign investments for 2019.
The biggest foreign investments announced at this year’s “Choose France !” summit were those of Microport. Procter & Gamble, Mars and Transpodall who announced additional investment in France.
Leading the list of investors, and continuing its agressive policy of foreign investment was China and its company Microport. This big Chinese. company specialises in health and medical equipment, in particular “pace makers” and defibrillators. Microport intends to invest an additional 350 million euros in its research and development centre further augmenting to its already present operations in Clamart in the Hauts-de-Seine area.
President Macron, Prime Minister Philippe and 25 government ministers were on hand to « meet and greet » corporate executives for this all important French economic gathering just ahead of the Davos World Economic Forum.
Domestically, one of the objectives of the 2019 “Choose France !” is to show that foreign investment benefits French Regions and is vital for the dynamism of the local economy. At a time of political populism on the rise worldwide, manifested by the « yellow vests » in France it is important to demonstrate the impact of investment on the daily lives of the French.
Internationally, it’s objective will be to “give guarantees” that the government’s business friendly course will not change, and in particular on taxation, which will continue to encourage investment. And finally, President Macron will repeat the need to bring about the “emergence of a new model” at the global level, “as he called for in his speech last year in Davos and in the United Nations Forum.
Other key investments announced for 2019 were :
- The American agri-food group Mars announced investments of 120 million euros in eight of the sites it has in France. Of this amount, €70 million will be allocated to the Haguenau plant in Lorraine, which manufactures M & M’s
- The consumer goods group Procter & Gamble will invest €50 million in a new production line for laundry and cleaning products in Amiens.
- Another step forward for the Regions, but already announced this fall, Canada’s Transpod will invest €20 million to build a 3 km test line in Haute-Vienne for the Hyperloop high-speed train, the project of Elon Musk, the American entrepreneur who founded Tesla.
- American network equipment manufacturer Cisco plans to invest €60 million in research and innovation, mainly in the Paris region
- Microsoft and IBM will also increase their presence in France.
Didier Hémion
Partner Accountant
International Business Services Department
