Investment is central to France’s response to the global economic crisis

David Appia, Ambassador for International Investment, Chairman and CEO, Invest in France

Investment is central to France’s response to the global economic crisis and the challenges of sustainable growth. France’s stimulus plan launched in late 2008 focused on a thousand projects to boost growth and competitiveness. The “national loan” bond issue decided upon in 2009 will allow €35 billion to be invested in university education and facilities, scientific and technological research, industrial policy, the digital economy, and sustainable development.

At the same time, investment is being supported in France by the series of reforms which have been initiated since 2007 to improve the competitiveness of the economy, including: the exemption of overtime hours from tax and social security contributions; the introduction of the “auto entrepreneur” regime; and the possibility of terminating work contracts by mutual consent, which have all helped to make the labor market more flexible.

Abolishing the local business tax on productive investments, which alone will amount to a tax cut for companies of nearly €12 billion in 2010, tripling the funding of France’s Research Tax Credit, the best of its kind in Europe, and adapting the tax regime for foreign businesses and executives are all giving a strong boost to business, innovation and investment in France.

In this context, France’s environmental policy, and notably the “Green New Deal” enshrined in the “Grenelle Law” passed in August 2009, provides a clear and ambitious framework to develop eco-technologies in the country. These initiatives are attracting growing interest from foreign companies, especially in the renewable energy sector.

Forward-looking and business-oriented, France has never been such an attractive destination in Europe, where in 2008 it was the leading recipient of FDI inflows and was ranked second for the number of job-creating investment projects attracted from foreign companies.

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David Appia
Ambassador for International Investment, Chairman and CEO, Invest in France