Paris (France) (AFP) – President Emmanuel Macron announced “record” foreign investments of 93 billion euros ($108 billion) at an international conference Monday, including for AI and data centres, staking his “credibility” on their implementation at the summit’s final edition under his leadership. Held at the Versailles palace west of Paris, the investments announced at the ninth “Choose France” event represent the creation of 15,600 jobs, in what Macron called “obviously by far a record edition.”
“Everything you signed here, everything which was announced during these days…will be executed and delivered on time,” Macron said in a speech in English to foreign business leaders after bilateral meetings and round tables. “I put my credibility in front of you on the table,” he added, as uncertainty remains over the future of the event after he leaves office in 2027. Money pledged for this year is set to surpass the combined 87 billion euros raised over the past eight years, according to Macron’s office.
“It’s the fruit of reforms, consistency, and an ecosystem we’ve managed to build,” Macron said, touting the tax and labour law reforms undertaken since his first term in 2017, as well as a “super competitive” decarbonised nuclear energy sector in the midst of a global energy crisis. The pledges include 45 billion euros from Japanese tech investor SoftBank. Its founder, Masayoshi Son, said over the weekend that it would spend 75 billion euros on artificial intelligence infrastructure, including 45 billion euros by 2031 on data centres in northern France.
Macron said the other investments would be directed toward artificial intelligence, data centres, semiconductors, critical minerals, tractors and trucks, steel and healthcare.
– ‘Computing capacities’ –
Macron said the projects would help “make France by far the leading country hosting data centres” and “computing capacity in Europe,” as well as a “forward base for the production of AI robots, and for industrialisation through AI.” “We are clearly bridging the gap we had in computing capacities in Europe,” compared with the United States and China, he added. SoftBank’s Son said the country’s nuclear-powered electricity was a key factor in choosing France.
Among other investors, Canadian asset manager Brookfield is to invest $10 billion (8.6 billion euros) in a data centre in northern France. The Emirati fund MGX and French public investment bank Bpifrance said they would be investing around 7.5 billion euros in AI-related infrastructure at a second site, after a first already under construction. Retail giant Amazon — which said this month that it would invest more than 15 billion euros in France over the next three years, creating 7,000 jobs — said it would create an additional 1,000 jobs at three logistics centres.
“Artificial intelligence must be a source of prosperity for France,” said Finance Minister Roland Lescure. Since the first “Choose France” in 2018, a year after Macron came to power, more than 230 projects have been announced, representing several thousand jobs, according to the Elysee.
– ‘Can do even better’ –
France has attracted the most foreign investment in Europe for seven straight years, according to the consultancy EY. “We are first in class in Europe,” Macron said, “But when I compare with the rest of the world, we can do even better.” EY said France attracted 852 projects last year out of 5,026 recorded in 47 European countries — a 17 percent drop in a difficult international environment. As a selling point, Macron praised the predictability offered by France and Europe. “None of us can change the rule overnight,” he said in a veiled reference to US President Donald Trump.
But Macron called for continuing regulatory simplification and faster decision-making in France as well as in Europe. While France has attracted more projects linked to AI than anywhere else in Europe, industry has suffered, particularly the automobile, chemical and metallurgy sectors. Economist Sylvain Bersinger said the announcements in Versailles should “not obscure the fact that overall corporate investment in France is depressed.”
“Reindustrialisation remains more of a pious wish than a reality,” he said. “France does not necessarily appear more attractive for foreign investors than its neighbours.” Macron wants to make France a world leader in AI and has announced 1.55 billion euros of public investment to develop quantum technologies and semiconductors.
© 2024 AFP
