The 2024 Choose France Summit, held at the prestigious Versailles Palace on May 13th, proved to be a resounding success.
The event attracted over 200 CEOs from leading global corporations, as well as French policymakers and innovators.
Launched by the French government in 2018, this annual forum aims to highlight France’s commitment to attracting international investments and reinforcing its position as a top business destination.
This year’s summit occurred shortly after France was named the most attractive country in Europe for foreign investments for the fifth consecutive year, surpassing the United Kingdom and Germany, according to the audit firm EY.
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These accolades validate the French government’s business-friendly policies initiated in 2017, including labor code reforms, the elimination of the solidarity tax on wealth, and reductions in corporate and production taxes.
The 2024 summit set a new record with investment pledges totaling over €15 billion, an increase from the €13 billion announced in 2023.
These commitments span various sectors, underscoring France’s appeal as a hub for technological innovation, financial services, and sustainable development.
According to the French presidency, these investments encompass 56 distinct business projects and are expected to create 10,000 new jobs.
In the digital sector, Microsoft announced a €4 billion investment to develop data centers in France, enhancing its artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud infrastructure.
Additionally, the major American e-commerce group Amazon pledged over €1.2 billion in investments at Choose France, which includes creating more than 3,000 permanent direct jobs.
These investments will focus on developing Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud capabilities, generative AI, and parcel distribution logistics.
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France is positioning itself as a European AI hub, with these investments supporting the development of data infrastructure crucial for rapidly growing local startups such as Mistral AI.
At Versailles, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire met with representatives from various international banks over lunch. Notably, Morgan Stanley announced a €1 billion investment in Paris.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal attributed the decision by many financial institutions to choose Paris as their European hub to Brexit.
As the United Kingdom exited the European Union, financial firms have sought to relocate or expand their operations within the EU to maintain seamless access to the European single market.
While government officials did not provide specific details on the public financial support and other support offered, the state does provide tax credits for certain types of green investments and research and development initiatives.
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