February 2009: Pedro Arcuri arrived in Montpellier. Back then, when he was just starting out as the newly appointed director of LabEx (the “external laboratory” for Embrapa, Brazil’s equivalent to France’s National Institute for Agricultural Research INRA), Mr. Arcuri acknowledges that “coming to France was a major decision. It was not an obvious choice either. France is a very attractive country for Brazilian scientists. To obtain this appointment, I had to respond to a call for tenders at Embrapa and was fortunate to be selected out of three candidates.” …
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Archive for June, 2010
France, a very real “virtual” market
Posted by Invest in France Agency in Sectors of excellence; June 22, 2010
We’ve already learned that the French are keen on going “green”. But less well known is their passion for new technology. This market has already achieved a degree of maturity and could open up a number of opportunities for foreign companies. In fact, the ICT sector generated turnover of €110.6 billion in 2009, or 15.5% of the entire European market, making France the third-largest market on the continent after Italy and Spain. The EITO[1] also estimates that the development of the telecommunications market in France is much stronger than the European average, primarily because of the boom in mobile data services, up 20% in 2009…
Video games in France: abundant creativity serving a long-established market
Posted by Invest in France Agency in Sectors of excellence; June 18, 2010
Photo credit: XiXiDu on Flickr
Imagine a game with as many plots and endings as there are players. “Heavy Rain”, the brainchild of French designer David Cage and his Paris-based studio Quantic Dream, is a ‘perfect storm’ that asks players to serve as the hero in a film-noir styled interactive drama. Players actually determine the dénouement through the choices they make, amid footage to rival a blockbuster movie. This budding industry is going through a mini-revolution, underlining the creative talent of French developers.
In a constantly changing sector, with 3D, real-time games and increasingly immersive gameplay, it is crucial to stay ahead of the pack and to react to market trends which were unveiled last week at the glittering E3 2010 exhibition, the biggest video game trade show in the world. While France abounds with game titles that have put it on the map, like “Flashback”, “Alone in the Dark”, “LBA” and “Trackmania”, it is no less competitive when it comes to today’s innovations. It is no coincidence that the video game spinoffs of the planetary success Avatar have been developed by Paris-based Ubisoft…
With a sizeable domestic market and a large pool of engineers and scientists educated at top colleges and universities, France is already a prime potential location for foreign technology groups and R&D operations. But it also holds another ‘trump card’ to swing decisions in its favor. A number of groups, including Huawei, Microsoft, and Intel, have cited France’s research tax credit (crédit d’impôt recherche – CIR) as one of the reasons for locating their R&D operations in the country. This tax credit, which covers 30% of R&D project expenditure (net after tax) puts France head and shoulders above the rest of Europe for R&D tax treatment.
Moreover, the 2008 and 2009 research tax credit programs incorporated an upfront research tax credit rebate for loss-making companies, with indefinite eligibility for SMEs. This rebate has since been helping to ease company cash flow management…
“A new way forward for Europe” – Closing sessions of the 8th World Investment Conference in La Baule, France
Posted by Invest in France Agency in Events; June 4, 2010
By Jonathan Gregson in La Baule - The closing keynote speech at the 8th World Investment Conference, held in La Baule, France, from June 2-4, 2010, was given by France’s Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Ms. Anne-Marie Idrac.
Ms. Anne-Marie Idrac observed that Europeans are over-pessimistic, looking at the problems rather than at the solutions. “The global economic crisis”, she declared, “can become an opportunity for Europe and for France”. Noting that France is ranked second or third in global FDI rankings, Ms. Idrac said that the challenge from ‘emerging’ economies like China, Brazil and Turkey must be welcomed, especially as they are now important inward investors into Europe.
In a comparison of Europe’s strengths to those of Asian and American countries, Ms. Idrac said that Europe has a unique combination of stability, dynamism and social balance, and that its competitiveness is based in the depth of the European market, high levels of education and skills, and its capacity for change and innovation…
What are the sectors in which France and French companies are world leaders?
Anne-Marie Idrac: France is very well known for having centers of excellence, and there are many sectors in which French companies have established a competitive advantage through their advanced technology, business systems and marketing skills. These would include, in my opinion, aerospace, pharmaceuticals, agribusiness and value-added food production, and of course what France remains well known for throughout the world, its luxury goods sector.
But it is also important to remember that France has a highly diversified economy, combining strengths in both industry and services. Moreover, we are totally committed to develop new sectors in response to the fast-changing demands of today’s world. Among the priority sectors are those relating to the ‘green economy’, and developing the technologies and business systems needed to address the challenges of climate change. We are also continuing to build on our skills-base in IT and improve our centers of excellence in both biotechnology and nanotechnology based around sector-specific innovation clusters which act like magnets for best practice and greater competitiveness…
Enhancing France’s economic attractiveness: An interview with David Appia, Chairman & CEO of the IFA
Posted by Invest in France Agency in Events; June 3, 2010
By Jonathan Gregson in La Baule – As Chairman and CEO of the Invest in France Agency (IFA), David Appia had several reasons to be pleased with the outcome of the 8th World Investment Conference held in La Baule, in France, from June 2-4, 2010. Firstly, the findings of the latest European Attractiveness Survey conducted by Ernst & Young showed France retaining its position as the second most popular foreign direct investment destination in Europe after the United Kingdom.
“The survey allows us to see how we stand in relation to competitors”, he says, “and our relative market share increased slightly last year”.
More importantly, the survey ranked France top among European nations in terms of R&D activity, an area in which he says “the strategic stakes are very high.” Moreover, the job content of foreign investment projects in France is much higher than in other European countries such as Germany. That, he believes, says a lot about the attractiveness of France – even during this recent period when global flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) have slowed down…
Europe’s ‘double attractiveness’: The opening debate of the 8th World Investment Conference held in La Baule, France
Posted by Invest in France Agency in France's image; June 2, 2010
By Jonathan Gregson in La Baule – In his welcoming speech to the 8th World Investment Conference (WIC) held in La Baule, France, from June 2-4, 2010, Mr. Michel Mercier, France’s Minister for Rural and Regional Development, underlined the attractiveness of Europe as an Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) destination, due to the quality of its key strengths, such as high-speed networks, its human capital and world-leading businesses.
As keynote speaker, the President of the European Council, Mr. Herman Van Rompuy, was asked to address the question of whether Europe is capable of changing fast enough to remain competitive in a fast-changing world. While noting that “Europe’s attractiveness is no longer taken for granted”, he argued that Europe has “a double attractiveness which makes our continent unique”, a combination of economic growth and the “European way of life” built upon the concept of social justice which he said makes Europe “a good place to invest AND to live”…
