6th Choose France Summit: a key economic event

25 mai 2023 Affaires

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More than 200 leaders from major multinational groups, 28 investment announcements, 13 billion euros and 8,000 job creations. These are some of the key figures unveiled during the 6th Choose France Summit, the key annual economic event held on 15 May at the Versailles Palace with president Macron.

In the wake of the meeting held on 11 May at the Elysée Palace where president Macron had gathered stakeholders of French industry during the event “Boosting our reindustrialisation”, the Choose France organisation matches another aspect of French economy since it aims at promoting the economic attractiveness of France internationally.

(Very) high leaders

The annual Choose France Summits were created in 2018 by French president Macron to “present and explain to major international companies the reforms carried out to promote economic activity in our country”. And the government website underlines that these meetings are also an opportunity to “highlight the importance of international investment in supporting growth, innovation and employment throughout France”.

More than 200 major leaders of foreign companies were present in Versailles, and half of them were participating for the first time. Among them, Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO and owner of Twitter, said he was “impressed by the greeting from president Macron the French government to industry” and announced he was ready to inject “significant investments in France”. Additional major foreign CEOs were also present in the event, such the president of the Indian group Bharti Entreprises, the president of ArcelorMittal, the CEOs of Nokia, Pfizer, Solvay and the Walt Disney Company.

Investing to build a sustainable future

The 2023 edition of the Choose France Summit focused on the subject “investing for a sustainable future”. The event saw the announcement of 28 investments reaching a total of 13 billion euros and the creation of 8,000 jobs, mostly in the sector of renewable energies and the protection of the environment. Such investments are needed to “boost the rise of an innovative and carbon-free industry”.

As the French government explains, these investments are “iconic of a green reindustrialisation”, and more than half of the investments announced will help France “be at the heart of the value chain of equipment production in renewable and carbon-free energies”, such as electric vehicles, but also to produce new solutions in the wind turbine, photovoltaic, nuclear and batteries sectors. Flagship projects unveiled included: a production site of latest generation batteries by Taiwanese Prologium in Dunkerque or a production factory of photovoltaic panels by Holosolis, a branch of the European group Innoenergy.

France is still the most attractive country in Europe

The concrete progress of the Choose France Summit are unveiled when the consultancy EY has just revealed that for the fourth time in a row, France is the most attractive country in Europe with 1,259 new investment projects registered in France in 2022 (+3% compared with 2021). A record, according to EY, since France has broaden the gap with its European competitors, the UK (929 investment projects -6%) and Germany (832 projects, -1%).

This attractiveness mostly shows in the sector of industry, which has once again become a driving force behind France’s attractiveness. More precisely, according to EY, the availability of carbon-free energy has become “despite the current energy crisis, the main trump card of France”.

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