Foreign Direct Investment in France

In 2004, foreign investments in France created or maintained 33,247 jobs, a one-year gain of 8 % and a 30% increase over two years.

As in previous years, the United States contributed the largest share of foreign investment, accounting for nearly 28 % of jobs created or maintained. Germany came second, as in 2003, with 16,3%. Sweden ranked third this year, with 13,6% of all jobs created or maintained.

European investors accounted for 58% of the jobs generated by international investments in France. Also noteworthy was the increase in Chinese investment (mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong combined), which allowed 819 jobs to be created or maintained in 2004, a substantial rise over the 169 recorded in 2003.

Source of investment (by country)

The largest share of foreign investment went to the transport, warehousing, and construction/civil engineering sectors. A total of 6,026 jobs were created or maintained in these sectors, considerably more than in 2003.

The automotive sector is also a prime investment area, though the 3,057 jobs created or maintained in 2004 represented a decline from 2003, when there were a number of major acquisitions.

Electrical and electronic equipment, another important sector for investment, chalked up strong growth in jobs, with 2,755 created or maintained.

Investors favoured four regions in particular: The Paris region (4,994 jobs created), Rhône-Alpes (4,401), Lorraine (2,886), and Midi-Pyrénées (2,663). These geographic choices reflect a strategy of targeting areas that offer excellent resources. It also points to the renewed dynamism of older industrial regions like the Lorraine.

The French government recently embarked on an ongoing series of reforms designed to make it easier for international companies to succeed.

The reforms include a broad range of initiatives including Europe's most aggressive research and development incentives, tax-free status for research-driven startups and streamlined entry, work and tax procedures for foreign executives.

In addition, the French government recently relaxed rules governing collective dismissals and lengthened the 35-hour workweek, two structures which have often been identified by U.S. senior managers as impediments to investments in France.

Source: AFII

  SUCCESS STORY: AstraZeneca to start up new production lines in Dunkirk

AstraZeneca has invested some 90 million to produce a new device for delivering medication used in asthma treatment. The move will create around 150 jobs at its plant in Dunkirk in northern France.

Built in 1991, the plants costs over 500 million and currently employs 630 people. The new investment finances additional production lines for metered-dose inhalers dispensing Symbicort, a drug used to treat asthma. Competing sites in North America were reviewed before the company selected the Dunkirk facility as its sole site producing Symbicort for the world market. The blockbuster drug, Symbicort is sold in over 85 countries.

At a ceremony inaugurating the new capacity in Dunkirk, AstraZeneca chief executive Sir Tom Killop noted “the key role of France in AstraZeneca’s business development strategy and industrial investment”, adding, “When we set up in Dunkirk in 1991, we undertook to create jobs and pursue a program of long-term redevelopment of the industrial area around Dunkirk. We have made good on that commitment.”

The current project has been backed by IFA, NFX (Nord France experts) and other local and regional authorities, whom Sir Tom McKillop thanked for their active support over the years.

In addition to its Dunkirk plant, AstraZeneca has a production facility in Rheims in eastern France and another in Monts in the Loire Valley, as well as a cancer research centre in Rheims. It employs 2,600 people and reports revenues of nearly 2 billion in France, one-third on export markets. “The French government is a leader in promoting innovation and investment in pharmaceuticals and industry” says Sir McKillop.

Source: AFII/AstraZeneca

  High speed train to link France and Germany

A new high-speed train line will link France and Germany from 2007, cutting travel time between Paris and Frankfurt to less than four hours.

Today there are the Eurostar between United Kingdom and France, the Thalys between Belgium and France and soon there will be the Realis between France and Germany.

Massive investment for expansion continues to be approved for the French high speed network, which is rivalled only by Japan for its quality and intensity of service. New schemes will ensure construction continues at least until 2010, extending further into neighbouring countries.

There will be five trains a day between Paris and Frankfurt and four between Paris and Stuttgart on the new TGV line, which France's state-owned rail company SNCF said is expected to be used by an estimated 1.5 million passengers a year.

Currently, the fastest train connection between Paris and Frankfurt via Saarbruecken and Mannheim takes 6 hours, while passengers to Stuttgart have to go via the eastern French city of Strasbourg.
The TGV line will require a new bridge across the Rhine river near Strasbourg that will be built at a cost of 30 million euros to 50 million euros, said Strasbourg deputy mayor Pascal Mangin.

France has been in the vanguard of high-speed passenger rail travel since the 1950s, and covers long distances at speeds of up to 300km/h (186mph). Since the first high speed line was built between the hub capital of Paris and Lyon in 1981, the TGV (Train a Grande Vitesse) has pushed into Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, the UK and Italy.

Sources: Business Week, SNCF

  The Invest in France Library

Need information on your business sector in France?
Check out our latest publications about:

- Functional and technical textiles in France: proven expertise & success
- Agribusiness
- France: a top biotech investment climate
- Nanotechnologies in France
- Spotlight on French excellence in communication technologies
- Spotlight on French excellence in software and it services
- Spotlight on French excellence in microelectronics
- Logistics in France
- Spotlight on French excellence in video games

To download these – and many more -, click on the publication or on the link below:

http://www.afii.fr/France/Newsroom/Publications/?l=en

  Lyon – a true Scandinavian city

It is easy to feel welcome if you are a Scandinavian in Lyon – much thanks to the The French-Scandinavian club - Le Centre Franco-Scandinave (CFS). Only in the Lyon area approximately 1 500 Scandinavians are living.

The CFS was created in 1991 in order to create a closer link between the Rhône-Alpes region and the Nordic countries. Today the club accounts for 200 members; Scandinavians as well as French people with a special interest in the Nordic countries. CFS is open to everyone. Not surprisingly are a lot of the members Scandinavians who have moved to Lyon to work and whish to meet others with the same background.

The purpose of the club is to facilitate life for Scandinavians - people as well as companies - in the region in terms of contacts, language or formalities; In short to make them feel welcome.

The members of the club meet frequently. Various activities are proposed to bring together Scandinavians: traditional activities like Santa Lucia, economical and commercial activities like visits to Scandinavian companies based in the Lyon area (Volvo-Renault, IKEA, Maersk), sports or cultural activities.

If you want more information about CFS and the activities you can visit their site on http://www.cfslyon.com, here you will also find a forum to get in contact with Scandinavians living France.

  « A la une » in France

French economic growth is expected to accelerate in the second quarter according to the Bank of France, May 17 2005
PARIS The central bank said its April business survey pointed to growth of 0.5 percent in the second quarter in France, the second-biggest economy in the euro zone after Germany. The growth would follow an assumed 0.4 percent rise in the first three months of the year. (Reuters)

EDF buys into Italian power market, MAY 14 2005
MILAN Électricité de France (EDF) and a partner agreed Friday to buy Edison, Italy's second-biggest electricity company, for €7.3 billion in a deal that will give the French power company control it has long sought in a main player in the lucrative Italian power market.
EDF, the world's largest electricity company, and AEM, Milan's municipal utility, will pay Edison's biggest shareholders €4.1 billion, for their combined 62 percent stake in the company, and then the two buyers will pay another €3.2 billion to acquire the remaining shares and warrants on the market in what will be Europe's biggest deal in the energy market in almost three years. (International Herald Tribune)

Acquisitions help BNP's net rise 56%, MAY 13 2005
PARIS BNP Paribas, the French banking giant, said Thursday that its first-quarter profit rose 56 percent from a year earlier, lifted by U.S. acquisitions, a drop in provisions for bad loans and the sale of a stake in a construction company. Net income rose to €1.72 billion, or $2.2 billion. BNP's revenue rose 19 percent to €5.6 billion, with €140 million the result of acquisitions made last year. The bank said it had recruited 2,400 people since the start of 2005, including 1,200 in France. (Reuters, Bloomberg News)

Cegetel and Neuf to merge, MAY 12 2005
PARIS Two of the leading French fixed-line phone companies agreed to merge on Wednesday, creating a competitor to France Télécom. Cegetel, which is majority owned by SFR, the mobile phone unit of Vivendi Universal, is combining its operations with Neuf Telecom, a private company whose main shareholders are the financial firm Louis Dreyfus and Suez.

By mid-2007, the companies said in a statement, Neuf Cegetel would aim to have four million consumer Internet clients and a 20 percent share of the market for corporate network services. Along with reselling wholesale Internet access, these three activities would generate €3.3 billion in sales in 2007, up from a combined €2.8 billion in 2005, they said.

The merger "definitely puts them in the No. 2 spot," said Larry Velez, a telecommunications analyst with Forrester Research. Both companies have built up their own physical networks, he said, enabling the combined entity to rely less on France Télécom and even to resell their own spare capacity.

"Cegetel and Neuf will now cover the country twice," he said, allowing them to cut prices when reselling capacity to companies like International Business Machines and Hewlett-Packard, which increasingly offer integrated network services to businesses.

Vivendi will own 28 percent of Neuf Cegetel, while Louis Dreyfus will own 28 percent, and 44 percent will be held by Neuf Telecom's other shareholders. Jacques Veyrat, chairman of Neuf Telecom, will become chairman of the new company. (International Herald Tribune)

Airbus lifts profit at EADS, MAY 10 2005
TOULOUSE France European Aeronautic Defense & Space, the parent company of Airbus, said Monday that its first-quarter profit rose more than six fold on rising deliveries of Airbus jets.

Net profit at EADS, which owns 80 percent of Airbus, rose to €328 million from €49 million a year earlier.

Sales rose 16 percent to €7 billion.

Airbus led the strong results as it delivered 87 airplanes during the quarter, up from 67 a year earlier, cementing its lead over Boeing as the top maker of commercial aircraft. (The Associated Press, Bloomberg News)

 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.