During its foreign investment summit ‘Choose France’, the country has received commitments for investments of more than 15 billion euros ($16.2 billion) from foreign countries, President Emmanuel Macron’s office said.
Macron’s office revealed that the $16.2 billion investment total, spread over a record-high of 56 projects, will potentially create over 10,000 local job opportunities. The largest commitment came from Microsoft, which announced an investment of 4 billion euros in the country.
Microsoft will invest most of the $4.3 billion in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector and create a new data center in eastern France. Moreover, the company will expand its existing sites in the Paris region and Marseille. In addition, Amazon will invest more than 1.2 billion euros in France, creating more than 3,000 jobs. Moreover, healthcare companies Pfizer and AstraZeneca announced investments of almost $1 billion in France.
Other investments
Other groups planning to boost their investments in France include drug companies Novartis and GSK. Estonia’s Skeleton Technologies also pledged a 600 million euro investment over five years and the creation of 300 jobs.
In addition, France announced the largest industrial project so far during the summit. This project could significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions and support France’s climate goals. Spain’s fertilizer group FertigHy pledged a 1.3 billion euro investment in a low-emission plant in northern France, creating 250 jobs.
Read: France secures $6.62 billion in investments from Amazon, Microsoft, Pfizer and AstraZeneca
In 2023, France ranked as Europe’s top destination for foreign investment for the fifth year in a row with more than 1,200 investment announcements, according to an EY survey. That is due to the stability of the country’s economic policies, education system, tax regime, innovation culture, and solid domestic market.
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