France announces record $16bn in foreign investment
Amazon, Microsoft and GSK among the companies investing, along with others from Denmark and Estonia to South Korea and China.
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00:00 The annual Choose France summit has been taking place in the regal setting of the Palace of Versailles just outside Paris.
00:06 President Emmanuel Macron was front and center, which saw some 15 billion dollars worth of foreign investments pledged.
00:13 Let's talk to our correspondent Ross Cullen who joins us now from Paris. I'm good to see you Ross.
00:18 So a good day for President Macron.
00:20 Yeah, Juliette, Emmanuel Macron always uses this chance to try to show off
00:29 France. This summit has been going now seven years, a brainchild of his during his first term in office, to try to bring all this
00:36 investment into the country to show off just how attractive France is to foreign sources of income.
00:42 And we saw some of those big deals announced. The French finance minister also said that he wants to see France turning from a nation of
00:50 consumers into a nation of producers.
00:53 But really a chance for President Emmanuel Macron to hammer home just how powerful France is in terms of attracting a new
01:00 investment into new technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure.
01:05 But also those key technologies like energy, agriculture and pharmaceuticals that have been around for a long time.
01:11 Let's listen in now to a little bit more of what the French leader had to say.
01:18 It is a fundamental step, but it's only one step because with you I look at what's next.
01:23 We are entering a totally different world where the competition will be ferocious.
01:29 We can only win with this competition if we have trusted partners and you are among them.
01:35 You talk about new investment in new technologies like artificial intelligence and cloud technology. I mean, who are some of the big investors?
01:44 Well, there are a range of well-known names and less well-known brands.
01:53 Juliette, 16 billion dollars in total in that investment that's been announced for this summit.
01:58 Microsoft, just over four billion dollars in terms of trying to support the building of cloud infrastructure, expand their operations here in France,
02:07 try to expand the number of employees as well. Amazon, their US tech rival, more than a billion dollars from them in terms of supporting their AWS or Amazon Web Services.
02:18 So more focus on cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence as well.
02:23 Some of the smaller firms, Estonian data storage firms, Spanish energy companies, to some of the more well-known brands as well, like the pharmaceutical heavyweights,
02:33 Britain's GSK and Denmark's Novo Nordisk.
02:37 Now, we also know that there were Chinese firms involved, potentially more investment there coming from China,
02:44 especially after the recent visit just last week from President Xi Jinping here to see his counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron.
02:51 And those focus for the Chinese firms is mostly in sectors like battery manufacturing.
02:56 Juliette, all of that sounds good for jobs.
02:58 Ross Cullen in Paris. Thank you very much.