Home

France, an attractive land

Interview with Clara Gaymard, president of the AFII

According to the French Agency for International Investment (AFII), France regained its economic attractiveness in 2003. 547 projects were launched here by foreign investors, generating more than 27,000 jobs. This outcome sets a positive tone for the launch of the campaign to promote investment in France announced by the Prime Minister at the second session of the World Investment Conference in Europe, held on 27 and 28 May in La Baule (Loire-Atlantique). Interview with Clara Gaymard, president of the AFII.

Interview conducted
by Mélina Gazsi, journalist

Label France: How do you explain these positive results in a crisis period?

Clara Gaymard: For the first time in three years, and following the falls registered in 2001 and 2002, related to the bursting of the dot-com bubble and the crisis of confidence in the financial markets, job creation grew by 20 % and projects by 25 %. There are two lessons to be learnt from this: France has some genuine advantages to offer and selling its appeal is to be taken seriously. Fifth world power, fourth in terms of exports, France is also placed, after China, in the leading group of States receiving international inward investment. Moreover, in the face of the pitfalls of globalisation, France is managing to pull ahead, almost doing better than other countries, where problems are sometimes more complex; such as the demographically related problems faced by Japan and Germany. Nevertheless, nothing is easy and there is plenty of competition.

LB: How do you manage to convince foreign investors who take the view that working in France is expensive?

CG: First of all, you have to get away from the clichés. Wages account for only 10 to 15 % of labour costs. In terms of high costs, Japan, the leading manufacturing country, comes first. Germany, leading exporter of consumer durables, is also a high-cost country. On the social level, working hours in the United States, in sectors such as the motor industry, regulated by agreements, wavers between 28 and 32 hours a week! The Agency has produced a table of determining factors for investors which shows that when launching a project what matters most is the cost and how long the company spends in liquidation in the event of failure.

LB: What are the objectives of the campaign to promote investment in France?

CG: The promotion campaign, which will begin in September 2004, is intended to change people’s view of France and ensure that it is economically attractive. We will be reminding investors worldwide that our country is at the leading edge in almost all sectors, that research and innovation are priorities, and that new measures (such as fiscal incentives for R&D, a new status for foreign senior managers, etc.) are going to help them invest with us. France can no longer be summed up by the romantic image of a country in which it is good to come and stay for a weekend. We want to show that it is also a land of business and say to investors: "Come and see for yourselves."