‘Choose France’ summit to bring 20bn euros of new investment

PARIS: This year’s “Choose France” business summit is set to secure 20 billion euros ($22.47 billion) of new investment, French President Emmanuel Macron said, announcing projects in the defence, energy and industrial sectors.

Macron’s personal efforts to woo international business leaders, making the Choose France summits at the opulent Palace of Versailles a must-attend for the global corporate elite, have been credited for a turnaround in past investor perceptions of France as a high-tax, rigid economy.

On top of the 20 billion euros in new investments, details of some 20 billion euros worth of AI-focused projects pledged at an AI summit earlier this year will also be provided at Monday’s summit, Macron said, adding that his aim was to ensure that France, and Europe, are more innovative and competitive.

“We don’t give up on anything!” Macron said as he announced the pledges expected at the summit. He was speaking at a Daimler Buses site in eastern France, where Chief Executive Till Oberwoerder announced an increase in investment and jobs.

Among the pledges made ahead of the summit, US logistics giant Prologis is set to invest 6.4 billion euros in four data centres in the Paris region, while London-based fintech Revolut plans to invest 1 billion euros over the next three years on expanding in France and will apply for a French banking licence.

Announcements also came from the United Arab Emirates’ AI-focused MGX fund and others were expected from companies ranging from Amazon to Britain’s Less Common Metals Limited in the rare earth sector. Portuguese company Tekever will build a drone assembly factory in the southwest, a 100 million euro investment, the Elysee said.

WAVE OF JOB CUTS

Macron’s government is under pressure to stem a wave of job cuts in industry, as upheaval fuelled by US President Trump’s trade policies puts further pressure on Europe’s flagging economy.

France has been the leading recipient of international investments in Europe for the past six years, according to EY’s European Investment Monitor, an annual survey of thousands of business leaders that Macron’s advisers have seized on as evidence his cocktail of supply-side reforms have been bearing fruit.

However, this year’s edition shows the number of investment projects has declined for the second consecutive year across Europe, while those in the United States rose by a fifth between 2023 and 2024, which EY said reflected the appeal of the Inflation Reduction Act subsidy package and Trump’s pro-business promises.

Despite the foreign investment flows into France, Macron has failed to stop French companies from making huge investments abroad, with Sanofi’s plan to spend at least $20 billion to boost manufacturing in the United States angering French politicians.

EYEING 37 BILLION EUROS IN FOREIGN INVESTMENT

One of Europe’s largest cruise operators said on Monday it has ordered two new cruise liners from a French shipyard, in a deal worth approximately 3.5 billion euros ($3.9 billion).

Geneva-based MSC Cruises signed the order on the sidelines of ‘Choose France’ summit, where France is expected to announce 37 billion euros in foreign investment.

Shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique, which has built 19 of MSC’s 23 ships, will deliver the new vessels from its western France yard in 2029 and 2030.

“This partnership is helping revive a strategic industry for our country,” said French Industry and Energy Minister Marc Ferracci, adding France “will continue to fight for our shipbuilding industry at the national level”.

With the latest order, the company’s total direct investment in France over the past two decades now exceeds 18 billion euros, according to MSC.

The two new cruise liners will join the MSC World Europe and the MSC World America along with two others already under construction, scheduled for delivery in 2026 and 2027.

MSC said the newest additions will be “among the most energy efficient”, compatible with alternative fuels, and equipped with shore-side electrical connection systems to reduce emissions during port calls.

But the cruise industry often draws sharp criticism over its environmental impact, with environmental activists blocking the southern French port of Marseille in September 2024 to protest pollution from the massive ships.