International investment in France recorded an annual increase of 11 percent last year
Business France, the national agency supporting the international development of the French economy, has released its Foreign Investment Report for 2019.
The highlight of the report is the country’s attraction for international investors, attracting 1,468 new foreign investment decisions in 2019, an 11 percent increase since 2018. Jobs created or maintained by foreign subsidiary investments also picked up significantly, growing by 30 per cent to 39,542 jobs created and 4,778 jobs maintained in 2019.
Prior to the crisis, France boasted a number of key strengths including growth which was above the euro zone average, more than 500,000 jobs had been created in two years, and business investment was at an all-time high and acted quickly and decisively to safeguard these key strengths.
France then attracted 19% of investment projects in the European market. Foreign investment in Europe was mainly focused on business services (42%) and industry (23%); being the leading European destination for industrial investment projects, home to 26% of manufacturing investments. France was also the leading European destination for R&D investment.
Middle East
In 2019, eight new job-creating investment decisions were made in France by companies from countries in the Middle East region, creating or maintaining more than 200 jobs.
These investments came from the United Arab Emirates (4 projects), Kuwait (2), Saudi Arabia (1) and Lebanon (1). Most of these projects involved production/manufacturing facilities (5 projects; 84 jobs) and logistics (2 projects; 110 jobs). Investments by Middle East countries were made in a variety of different sectors, with two projects in the transport/storage sector responsible for more than half of the jobs generated by Middle Eastern investment.
Projects from the region included:
*DP World has invested in Le Havre (Normandie region) in the construction and operation of a container terminal through a joint venture with the transport company CMA CGM. This €154mn investment, nearly half of which comes from the investor and the Normandie region, will generate 200 jobs.
*Sahul Group has set up a high-end mobile phone manufacturing site. The initial investment will be around €35mn and should generate around thirty jobs.
*In partnership with the IFP New Energies group, the Saudi company Aramco is investing €2mn in the creation of an R&D centre to strengthen Saudi technological capacities in the petroleum and petrochemical sectors. This €2mn investment will create 10 jobs, with roles comprising mainly engineers and researchers.
*The Kuwaiti logistics company Agility is creating a 26,000sqm multi-modal platform in Blotzheim (in North East France). This €5mn investment will create 10 jobs in 2020 in addition to the 20 roles that already exist.
“In the coming years, France will continue to promote investment from foreign businesses across our regions so that they can create jobs, make the most of our talent and participate in the construction of this new French economy,” commented Frederic Szabo, Managing Director, Business France Middle East.
“We are committed to build bridges between Middle East and France, support business setting up and provide key investment opportunities,” remarked Amine Chaehoi, Director Inward Investments, Business France Middle East.
