“Choose France”: Macron at Versailles to continue his “reindustrialization” sequence

The French public authorities themselves are there to send messages. “On the occasion of Choose France, we can detail with the leaders present, the possibilities opened up by the France 2030 program in terms of aid for innovation, investment and training of talents”, explains Bruno Bonnell, who is piloting this program endowed with 54 billion euros. He also intends to particularly insist on the availability of this quality workforce, at a time when it is beginning to be lacking in Germany and across the Atlantic.

More than 10 billion euros of investments this year

This year, 206 companies will participate in Choose France – half of which are newcomers and 40% bring industrial projects. The flags are of 50 different nationalities, predominantly European, but also including 20% ​​North American and 15% Asian.

Like every year, the Elysée obviously seeks to exceed the figures announced during the previous edition. For 2023, there are therefore at least 25 announcements of projects signed for an amount of more than 10 billion euros which are in the line of sight. These figures should be amply exceeded by the end of the edition.

Admittedly, these are only projects, which do not take into account the deadlines for setting up companies – deadlines that the Elysée has moreover promised to halve in its green industry bill. However, the number is increasing every year. And regular monitoring allows the palace to ensure that of the 88 projects announced at all the Choose France summits, 80 have been completed, and eight are postponed or postponed.

Gigafactory in Hauts de France

As in previous editions, the president – but also the ministers who participate in the summit – will have bilateral talks with the CEOs of companies who plan to settle in France. This will notably be the case with the CEOs of Pfizer, the Thai group CT group (food), Disney, Arcelor Mittal, the pharmaceutical group Novo Nordisk and Solvay. .

This year, it is obviously the Taiwanese project Prologium, which offers a new electric battery technology and whose arrival in Dunkirk was revealed by Challenges, which holds the upper hand, with the construction of a 48 GW plant, the expected creation of 3,000 jobs and an investment worth more than 5 billion euros. The Elysée also likes to recall that Emmanuel Macron had spoken with the boss of Prologium in 2022 during the previous Choose France summit, because the importance of this investment had been detected in particular by the services of Business France. An interview that would have participated in the triggering of the implantation. The president’s entourage, on the other hand, communicates less about the weight in this decision of the public aid granted to the Taiwanese: it would be greater than 1.5 billion euros, according to our information.

The announcement highlights the Hauts de France region, which has already managed to establish itself as the “battery valley”, with four gigafactory under construction or to come. An emblem of reindustrialisation, even if it is still difficult to assess the total number of jobs that will be created in the years to come, with estimates varying between 15,000 and 30,000. Friday, during his trip to Dunkirk, Emmanuel Macron also announced that the Chinese XTC and the French Orano were going to invest 1.5 billion euros and create 1,700 jobs in a site linked to lithium batteries in the northern city. These announcements contrast with the case of the Valdunes steel company in Leffrinckoucke in the eastern suburbs of Dunkirk, which has just been let go by its Chinese investor – as a reminder of the reality of the risk, for the French economy, of relying too much on foreign investment .

In Versailles, Emmanuel Macron should also confirm the signing of a contract of 710 million euros from the company Holosolis, for the establishment of a photovoltaic plant in Hambach near Sarreguemines (Moselle), which provides for the creation of 1,700 jobs. . Information confirmed this Sunday by Roland Lescure, the delegate minister in charge of industry.

Priority sectors: health and carbon-free mobility

Contracts will also be signed in the field of health, “a strategic sector where France remains attractive” hammers the Elysée, with Pfizer for an R&D center (500 million), GFK for the production of Ventolin and R&D (400 million), and the Italian Cheisi for a “small” investment of 60 million euros in the Loir et Cher.

In total, nearly one billion euros should concern the health sector.

Moderna, the biotechnology company created by Stéphane Bancel and which became known at the time of the Covid epidemic, will be present at Choose France and will have discussions with members of the government and the Elysée, but no signature n is expected. Discussions are still underway for the possible establishment in France of a production plant for messenger RNA vaccines.

Other signatures are expected in the low-carbon mobility sector, with Iveco (115 million euros) for the production of a new generation of engines. Also present the Portuguese Powerdot will invest 140 million euros for charging stations.

The long road to reindustrialization

Beyond these sectors, other investment projects will be announced, in particular that of Ikea which wants to invest 906 million euros for a project linked to the reinforcement of the logistics capacities and the ecological transition of the Swedish group. In finance, Morgan Stanley intends to create 200 jobs in Paris and launch an investment fund in the sector of listed technology companies. A location that reinforces the French strategy to establish itself as an alternative financial center to the British capital after Brexit. Palantir, a company specializing in big data and working with many European intelligence services, plans to build an R&D center in the field of collaborative artificial intelligence, the fight against money laundering and financial crime.

Nokia should also announce the extension of its R&D center with the creation of 500 additional jobs in Ile-de-France and Brittany.

The Elysée wants to let it be known that this summit demonstrates the return of France’s competitiveness. But the country is only at the beginning of a trend reversal that dates from the early 2000s, as shown by economists Thomas Grjebine and Axelle Arquié in a recent Cepii study. Twenty years of deindustrialization with social plans and massive layoffs, motivated by the illusion of “creative destruction”, particularly linked to Chinese competition but also to political choices which then favored the service sector, have left a lasting mark on the French economy. . All motivated by the illusion that the gains of globalization would then be redistributed to everyone. In this sense, the reindustrialization of France promises to be a long road