Logistics in France

Maximise your profits over a 455 millions people market

In the 15 country European Union, 380 millions consumers, and a combined GDP surpassing the American and Japan GDPs, strictly national markets are now disappearing. They are replaced by a cross border market that is worth € 912 billion per year (according to Cranfield University in the UK°).

With the admission of 10 new countries in 2004, the total population will reach 455 million inhabitants e.g. more than the total population of the United States, Canada and Mexico altogether (413 million inhabitants).

Being both the European continent's Atlantic coast and a crossroads between Northern Europe, Benelux and Mediterranean Basin, France is at the heart of the European markets.

France borders with 7 other countries: no other country offers closer access to so many key European markets.

France also provides a unique gateway into Southern and Eastern Europe, to North Africa and Middle East.


Number one infrastructures

French networks of land, air, river and maritime communication are organized around this goal.

The planned extensions of the freight zone of Roissy- Charles de Gaulle airport, the development of TGV high-speed train links, or the motorway building programme are just a few examples demonstrating France's willing to accompany the evolution of transport needs : High-speed train, international airports, sea ports, river ports and road links to all your international destination.


A competitive workforce

The size of international trade in France offers businesses a guarantee that a partner or logistics supplier will always be found to develop their activity. This availability of skills is also reflected in the training provided in the sector. Through initial or on the job training, France trains thousand of logistics specialists every year, from forklift drivers to logisticians, not forgetting IT engineers. Placing France at the core of one's logistic organisation is to choose a country that is itself central to logistics.

 Logistics in Burgundy - In the heart of the European communication network

The logistic sector in Burgundy is growing. Today the region account for 1,000 companies and 12 000 employees. The turnover represents 2 billion euros.

40% of European traffic and 75% of national traffic pass through Burgundy, which means 100 million tons of goods each year. The location, near the two largest French logistic centres - the Paris region (47% of French turnover, 90% of air freight) and the Rhône-Alpes region (9% of French turnover) is ideal.

In the heart of the European communication network

   •       Motorway meeting point: 13 000 trucks a day in Baune. International traffic :             6 million tonnes of goods, of which 3.2 million tonnes of goods are exported             to other European Union countries, mainly Germany, Italy and the
            United Kingdom.

   •      Waterways accessible to heavy barges: 5th largest French river port and             furthest northern port from the Port of Marseille

   •       1 of 2 freight trains in France passes through Burgundy: 2nd largest French             marshalling area, 12 goods stations

   •       Near the big international airports of Paris and Lyon, Geneva, Mulhouse-Bale             and Varty

The main European and French traffic has to pass through Burgundy. The region has an excellent motorway network with connecting roads to northern and north-eastern France (way A31, A38, A77 and A5 motorways) and to southern, south-eastern and eastern France (way A6, A36, A39, A40 and A75 motorways). The eastern motorway network passing through Burgundy is linked to the western motorway network by means of the Route Centre Europe Atlantique, which is one of the main French cross-country motorways linking Chalon-sur-Saône and Mâcon (A6) and La Rochelle (A10).

Rail freight

12 stations, 107 million Euros in turnover, 1 billion tonnes per kilometre
Gevrey (Dijon) is a combined transport and transit platform with a total capacity of 50,000 containers a year (with the possibility of adding on a second exchange rail).
The second largest French marshalling yard : Perrigny (Dijon)
A European distribution platform for stocking steel products : Dijon Port-Neuve (ISO 9002) 50,000 tonnes a year.
100 trains a day between Dijon and Avignon or the equivalent of 5,000 heavy goods vehicles

River transport

River and maritime traffic is growing and accounts for a third of the traffic in the Saône river ports. Burgundy offers you the most northerly access to the Mediterranean from its multimodal platform in Pagny, near Beaune, which has river, rail and road infrastructures all the way to Aproport (Chalon-sur-Saône and Mâcon ; 1 million tonnes a year).

Some of the companies that have chosen Burgundy: HAYS, LOGISTICS, GEFCO, LIDL, BERNER, SARA LEE, HILLEBRAND FRANCE, ZIEGLER, BRENNTAG, GIRAUD, RAVE, KODAK, NEXANS, DANZAS, EXCELL LOGISTICS

      Source: http://www.bourgognelogistics.com

  SUCCESS STORY: IKEA

One of IKEA's largest distribution centres in the world is based near Lyon

  Upcoming events in France

Feb 27- Mar 3 Paris, France – SIMA
Paris International Agribusiness Show for agri-equipment, supplies and livestock
Visitors: 186 200, Exhibitors: 1 070 (30% international)
www.simaonline.com

Mar 5 – 7 Lyon, France – EUROBOIS
The construction timber and woodworking machinery exhibitions
Processing machines - Forestry equipment - Timber as a construction material
Visitors: 32 000, Exhibitors: 370
www.eurobois.net

Mar 10 – 13 Paris, France - EXPOBOIS
International Exhibition of Woodworking Machinery and Timber Industries
Visitors: 20 000, Exhibitors: 400 (57% international)
http://www.expobois.net

Mar 16 – 18 Paris, France – EUROPROPRE
Hygiene, cleaning and services solutions exhibition
Visitors: 17 000, Exhibitors: 200 (30% international)
http://www.europropre.com

Mar 22 – 26 Paris, France - INTER OUTIL EXPO
International Exhibition of Cutting, Shaping Tools for Metals, Plastics and Composites
Visitors: 16 000, Exhibitors: 380 (50% international)
http://www.industrie-expo.com

Mar 22 – 26 Paris, France - MACHINE OUTIL
International Exhibition of Production Equipment for the Mechanical Industries
Visitors: 41 000, Exhibitors: 813 (57% international)
http://www.machineoutil.com

Mar 22 – 26 Paris, France - SITS
International Exhibition Surface Treatment and Industrial Finishing
Visitors: 18 000, Exhibitors: 408 (27% international)
http://www.sits.com

Apr 6 – 7 Paris, France – IN-FOOD
The first ever exhibitions of B2B solutions for the food industry
http://www.in-foodexpo.com

  La Baule 2005

The World Investment Conference is a dynamic platform to bring together everyone who has an interest in the attractiveness and competitiveness of Europe.

Once a year, during LA BAULE CONFERENCE, 700 high-level international leaders gathers to meet and exchange views, experiences and good practices in order to achieve tangible results by reaching functional answers and decisions on win/win projects in the field.

This annual conference has been held the past two years in La Baule city in France Atlantique on the western coast of France. The first two conferences were a success, making this event a credible, recognized forum. The participating international leaders, captains of world industry, EU members, European economic development agency heads, experts and journalists, have one concrete, pragmatic shared goal: to contribute to implementing the grand project devised by the 15 EU Member States in Lisbon in 2000 to enhance the attractiveness and competitiveness of the enlarged Europe and its regions.

Several major companies were represented at La Baule in 2003 and 2004: Airbus, American Express, Apple, BMS France, British Telecom Ignite, Compass Group PLC, Danone, EDF, Ernst&Young, Glaxosmithkline, Microsoft, Motorola, PSA, Sony, Whirlpool, Xerox etc.

  Sur la une - On the covers in France

Orange rolls out its third-generation mobile phone services

PARIS Orange, a unit of France Telecom, has rolled out its third-generation mobile phone services in France and Britain, joining the growing ranks of cellular operators hoping to entice Europeans with offerings like video calling, music downloads and high-speed, wireless Internet browsing.

Orange, which spent $7.76 billion in Britain alone on a license to provide so-called 3G services, is the third operator to introduce its new offerings there, following Vodafone and 3. In France, it is the second entrant after SFR, a Vodafone affiliate.

Orange plans to attract as many as 2 million 3G customers in France by the end of 2006. A handful of the 19 other countries in which Orange operates, either through wholly owned subsidiaries or partners, are expected to get 3G next year, including Switzerland, Belgium and Portugal.

Pricing of phones and subscriptions will vary. Orange will offer an introductory subscription starting at €55 in France. Many of the touted 3G features, however, will cost extra.

Orange will offer 3G phones from LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Sanyo. For Sanyo, a major 3G phone supplier in Asia, it will be the first move into the European mobile handset market.

Source: International Herald Tribune

France seeks €11 billion from power utility sale

PARIS The French government has announced an accelerated plan for the partial privatization of Électricité de France (EDF), saying that it aimed to sell as much as 30 percent some time next year.

The sale could raise between €8 billion and €11 billion, for the French Treasury and suggests a market valuation of the whole company of around €40 billion.

In December, EDF and its sister company, Gaz de France, were officially converted from state enterprises into limited-liability companies.

EDF said it welcomed the Finance Ministry's decision to move ahead with privatization and endorsed the strategic recommendations of the EDF commission. The panel, led by Marcel Roulet, a former head of France Télécom, recommended that the utility focus its business on Europe's largest power markets in France, Germany and Italy and that it sell off smaller stakes that it owns in utilities in Scandinavia, Spain, Brazil and Argentina.

A portion of the funds raised in an EDF share sale could be used to help finance acquisitions. For example, EDF owns an 18 percent stake in Italenergia Bis, an unlisted holding company that controls 62 per cent of Edison, Italy's largest privately owned energy company. The French utility faces options in early 2005 to buy out other Italenergia shareholders - including the industrial group Fiat and the banking groups Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI - a transaction of €3.7 billion.

Societe d'Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhone, Europe's third-largest toll-road operator, raised about €1.37 billion in the French government's biggest initial public offering in 2004, according to news agencies.

France also plans to float part of another toll road company, Autoroutes du Nord et de l'Est de la France, in 2005 and to sell shares worth up to €3.6 billion in nuclear power firm Areva in the first half of next year.

Source: International Herald Tribune

The French government is to invest €30 million next year in a new global news channel in French

PARIS - French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin announced at a news conference Dec 9, that France is to launch a CNN-style International Information (CII) channel in 2005, with a budget of 30 million euros.

The new channel will enjoy the advantages offered by France's leading television companies – private (TF1) and public. The news channel was ordered by Chirac two years ago, and was at the beginning scheduled to start in 2004.

Source: Reuters

The French government sells part of its 44 percent stake in Air France-KLM, the recently combined airline group.

PARIS - The French government is to sell 17.7 percent of the capital it owns, pocketing nearly €700 million, report Dutch bank ABN Amro.

ABN Amro and the French bank Société Générale are handling the sale. Investors will be invited to bid on the shares and the banks will place the shares on the market based on the best offers.

According to ABN Amro, the sale will involve a total 18.4 percent of the capital owned, or 49.48 million shares. In addition to the 17.7 percent placed on the market, 0.7 percent will be reserved for Air France-KLM employees.

Following the sale, the French state's stake in the airline is expected to be reduced to about 25.6 percent.

      Source: Reuters

 IFA Nordic Countries

 The Invest in France Agency is the official national body for international investment in France. Our presence is both regional and worldwide:

• 17 offices around the world, North America, Asia and Europe.
• 40 regional agencies in France, including regional development agencies, chambers of commerce and professional networks.
  
  

Our Services:

The Invest in France Agency provides free & confidential advice and practical assistance for companies setting up or expanding operations in France.

1. Information on investment issues

The Agency provides complete information for companies setting up or expanding operations in France. This covers:

• Prevailing economic climate
• Legal framework and tax laws
• Access to markets
• Labour productivity
• Technological and scientific resources
• Labour and social security regulations
• Financial aid available at the national and/or regional levels
• Introduction to additional sources of financing and more.
  

2. Customised, confidential and practical assistance

The Agency identifies the most suitable sites to meet the investing company's strategy, industry and human resources requirements. The Agency's team of professionals organises visits to short­listed sites, and arranges contacts with local authorities and service providers. These specialists also provide analysis on:

• The local environment in the investor's industry
• Data on research and technology centres
• Production costs, site advantages
• Construction and installation costs
• The choice between purchase and rental of business premises and other relevant considerations
  

3. Securing public support

In co­operation with the concerned parties, the Invest in France Agency researches and maximises the financial incentives available for each investment project. We also advises investing firms on tax matters, organises meetings with local officials and assists in administrative procedures.

4. Ongoing assistance

Once the new business is operational, the Agency continues to provide support to ensure that the unit is profitable by:

• Acting as liaison between the company and local authorities.
• Assisting expatriates and their families with housing, education,
  healthcare and training.