foreign investment remained high in France

The effect Emmanuel Macron is still not exhausted and, for the moment, the "yellow vests" and the violence of certain events have not had significant effects on international investments. In 2018, they continued to grow, according to data from the national agency Business France presented Thursday, April 4.
With 1,323 registered foreign investment projects, against 1,298 in 2017, the Hexagon still attracts as much. "The growth of 2% in 2018 is less strong than in 2017 (15%), but the site France has managed to bring 420 new companies," said Christophe Lecourtier, CEO of Business France.

Last year, Mr. Macron's election led to a runaway number of projects. "It was an extraordinary year, which saw the thaw of many investment projects," says Lecourtier.
Despite a gloomy global economic climate in 2018, with the Sino-US trade war, the Brexit or yo-yo energy prices, France has managed to pull off the game, attracting 20% ​​of investment projects foreigners on the Old Continent, against 16% for the United Kingdom or 14% for Germany.
Quality of engineers, dynamism of the French Tech
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On the employment side, investment decisions resulted in the creation or maintenance of 30,302 jobs in 2018, down 3,000 from the previous year. The number of jobs saved collapsed (-4,000) "following the decline in the number of occasions of sites in difficulty (- 25%)," says Business France.
There are other reasons for satisfaction for the government and its policy for the industry. Nearly a quarter of investments are devoted to this sector, with the key to safeguarding or creating 11,300 jobs, proof that the deindustrialization of France is not inevitable. "There are significant investments in the United States and Germany, and especially in mid-size companies," says Lecourtier. This is explained, the German Mittelstand is struggling to recruit both in Germany and the Central European countries, so he turns to us. "
Business France cites as an example the € 110 million investment by the Knauf Insulation group in the Rhine, which is setting up a plant in the Moselle, with some 120 permanent employees or the American company specializing in production. 3D, PostProcess Technologies, which moves to Sophia Antipolis (Alpes-Maritimes). Similarly, the first effects of Brexit are already felt in France, with a 33% jump in investment in the financial sector.
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Other strengths of the "France site", the quality of its engineers, the dynamism, still important, the French Tech, and its ultra-advantageous tax framework, thanks to the research tax credit for R & D centers. In 2018, no less than 129 investment projects in this area were engaged, including the installation of an Uber R & D center, the creation of an incubator of the computer company SAP. This is an increase of 10% over one year.
"[For 2019], the first signs are positive, assures Mr. Lecourtier. Despite the "yellow vests", we note a very good dynamism of foreign investment in the first three months.