France is set to receive record foreign investment promises when President Emmanuel Macron rolls out the red carpet for global CEOs on Monday at the annual ‘Choose France’ gathering in Versailles, according to his administration.
Executives attending the event have pledged to invest a total of 13 billion euros ($14 billion), the biggest since Macron began organizing the conference in the former royal palace outside Paris in 2018.
With a total of 28 investment projects in the pipeline this year, companies ranging from U.S. pharmaceutical group Pfizer to Swedish furniture maker and investment bank Morgan Stanley are planning to expand in France, creating an expected 8,000 jobs in total.
Over the past five years, Macron has invited top CEOs to the glamorous setting of Versailles Palace in hope of securing billions in foreign investments he says justifies his pro-business reform drive.
This year’s summit offers the former investment banker the opportunity to turn a page on months of protests and strikes against his plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.
The single biggest investment is a 5.2 billion euro project from a Taiwanese car battery maker in the northern port city of Dunkirk, which Macron already announced on Friday.
It is followed by a 1.5 billion euro battery components plant also in Dunkirk in a joint venture between Chinese group XTC and French firm Orano.
Ikea has plans to invest 906 million euros by 2026 while Pfizer aims has budgeted 500 million euros to expand in France over the same period followed by British rival GSK with 400 million euros, Macron’s office said.
Morgan Stanley is expected to announced the creation of 200 new banking jobs in Paris.