Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2023 16:06:00 GMT
Am I envious? Yes. But I'm sure the UK will get there one day, if it hasn't already.
www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/why-france-is-europe-s-foreign-direct-investment-champion/ar-AA1dNPzL?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=495bd11fc9874149b8859e6c8d837825&ei=16
Why France is Europe's foreign direct investment champion
Story by Lisa Louis • 8h ago
One area of Douvrin Billy-Berclau in France's northernmost department of Hauts-de-France is teaming with people. They are working to finish the first of three huge hangars, to be used when the country's first so-called battery giga-factory is completed here.
The €3 billion ($3.3 billion) project, called ACC, or Automotive Cells Company, is one out of many examples of recent foreign direct investment in France: 1,300 such plans were announced last year. But while they've been flaunted to the public, the overall economic impact is thus far limited.
"Right now, we're getting all our batteries from Asia – from China, South Korea and Japan. But we want to create our own industry to design, produce and sell batteries that are 100% made in France," Matthieu Hubert, ACC's General Secretary, told DW, while walking around the construction site on a recent Wednesday morning.
The factory, owned by a consortium consisting of Dutch automaker Stellantis, German carmaker Mercedes and French energy giant TotalEnergies, will one day yield battery cells for up to 500,000 vehicles per year and employ around 2,000 people.
The joint venture is also planning to construct similar giga-factories in Germany and Italy. But the consortium has good reason to locate its first mega-project in France.
France's nuclear reactors produce roughly 70% of the country's electricity. And the government plans to construct at least an additional six nuclear power plants.
Neil Bernard, Director for Public Affairs, Market Access and Communication at Italian pharmaceutical company Chiesi, adds another argument in favor of France.
"French authorities have always been proactively supporting us in our projects – we really feel welcome here," he told DW, describing the country as "strategic territory" for the company.
Outside Italy, France is the only European country where the Parma-based multinational has subsidiaries – an R&D office in Bois-Colombes near Paris and a production site in La Chaussée-Saint-Victore in central France.
President Emmanuel Macron has indeed carried out a number of pro-business reforms, underlined Olivier Becht, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad.
"We have reduced corporate taxes from 33 to 25%, made our labor law more flexible, cut red tape and provided additional land slots to investors," he explained to DW.
Foreign direct investment is a boon to the economy, Becht stressed.
"Such projects created 58,000 jobs in 2022. The economy expanded by 2.6% last year and will continue to grow this year, whereas countries such as Germany entered into recession," he said.
www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/why-france-is-europe-s-foreign-direct-investment-champion/ar-AA1dNPzL?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=495bd11fc9874149b8859e6c8d837825&ei=16
Why France is Europe's foreign direct investment champion
Story by Lisa Louis • 8h ago
One area of Douvrin Billy-Berclau in France's northernmost department of Hauts-de-France is teaming with people. They are working to finish the first of three huge hangars, to be used when the country's first so-called battery giga-factory is completed here.
The €3 billion ($3.3 billion) project, called ACC, or Automotive Cells Company, is one out of many examples of recent foreign direct investment in France: 1,300 such plans were announced last year. But while they've been flaunted to the public, the overall economic impact is thus far limited.
"Right now, we're getting all our batteries from Asia – from China, South Korea and Japan. But we want to create our own industry to design, produce and sell batteries that are 100% made in France," Matthieu Hubert, ACC's General Secretary, told DW, while walking around the construction site on a recent Wednesday morning.
The factory, owned by a consortium consisting of Dutch automaker Stellantis, German carmaker Mercedes and French energy giant TotalEnergies, will one day yield battery cells for up to 500,000 vehicles per year and employ around 2,000 people.
The joint venture is also planning to construct similar giga-factories in Germany and Italy. But the consortium has good reason to locate its first mega-project in France.
France's nuclear reactors produce roughly 70% of the country's electricity. And the government plans to construct at least an additional six nuclear power plants.
Neil Bernard, Director for Public Affairs, Market Access and Communication at Italian pharmaceutical company Chiesi, adds another argument in favor of France.
"French authorities have always been proactively supporting us in our projects – we really feel welcome here," he told DW, describing the country as "strategic territory" for the company.
Outside Italy, France is the only European country where the Parma-based multinational has subsidiaries – an R&D office in Bois-Colombes near Paris and a production site in La Chaussée-Saint-Victore in central France.
President Emmanuel Macron has indeed carried out a number of pro-business reforms, underlined Olivier Becht, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade, Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad.
"We have reduced corporate taxes from 33 to 25%, made our labor law more flexible, cut red tape and provided additional land slots to investors," he explained to DW.
Foreign direct investment is a boon to the economy, Becht stressed.
"Such projects created 58,000 jobs in 2022. The economy expanded by 2.6% last year and will continue to grow this year, whereas countries such as Germany entered into recession," he said.
