This year’s “Choose France” — an annual summit which aims to attract foreign investment to France — is set to bring in 15 billion euros (US$16.2 billion) of foreign investments, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said yesterday.
That was an increase from last year’s summit, which raised 13 billion euros of foreign investments, the office said.
The announcement came as Macron started the event on Monday.
Photo: Thibault Camus, EPA-EFE
The summit’s aim is to burnish Paris’ reputation as a leading European business center, as France — the eurozone’s second-biggest economy — faces headwinds due to its budget deficit and tepid first-quarter economic growth.
Paris has also traditionally lagged New York and London as a global financial hub, a survey by Z/Yen published in March showed.
New York ranked as the world’s top financial center, followed by London in second place, the report showed.
The French president’s office said that the 15 billion euros of funding were for 56 different business projects, with the key investment sectors being technology, artificial intelligence and finance.
Amazon.com Inc would announce a 1.2 billion euros investment at the event, France said.
Microsoft Corp said it would invest 4 billion euros in France, while healthcare companies Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca PLC also announced investments of nearly US$1 billion.
Meanwhile, French Minister of Finance Bruno Le Maire also hosted meetings on Monday with the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp, among others.
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