2009 report Foreign Investments in France

Bounce back in investments despite the « Crisis »

With the creation of 1972 jobs by foreign companies involved in 57 projects, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ranks third nationally in number of projects and sixth in number of jobs, a great improvement over the previous year, which was the worst in the last decade. These results reflect the undeniable attractiveness of the region, with investments in a wide range of activities. Indeed, one third of projects and jobs (667) are in trade and volume distribution and the share of R & D, traditionally high in the region remains high with 28% of projects (national average 8%) and 22% of jobs (444).

Another encouraging sign, new companies are created at a steady pace amounting to 70% of projects and 57% of jobs. Despite the “crisis” (10) foreign companies have announced that they would expand which represents nearly 300 new jobs; 7 business take-overs will account for almost 550 jobs.

There is a wide variety of sectors: energy, with 314 jobs, is the first sector of activity (about 80% in solar energy and the rest in nuclear-related activities). The PACA region has undeniable assets in the field of energy, not only through the market it offers, but also through its economic and technological potential (Capenergies cluster, ITER, ISO éco-vallée de la Plaine du Var, Arbois Technology park, PRIDES des éco-entreprises ,..).

Predictably, ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) rank among the top three. However, the aerospace industry is a particularly fast-growing sector this year: it accounts for more than 200 jobs and 5 projects. And the one project in furniture industry provides 300 jobs.

As for geographical origins, three countries have invested in businesses that employ a little over 300 people: Germany, Sweden and the USA. The next three countries in the rankings: Denmark, Switzerland and Italy account for approximately 150 jobs each. Besides these traditional investors in the PACA region, India and China, with respectively 150 and 118 jobs are clearly coming into the picture.

Finally, and this is new, while the Bouches-du-Rhone and Alpes-Maritimes have been traditional centres of attraction boosted by their regional capitals (around 500 to 600 jobs each), activities in Vaucluse (492 jobs) have been steadily growing since 2008, and the Var (367 jobs) has made a significant breakthrough this year. (Source: MDER press release of March 9, 2010)