Invest in France Agency international Office

A host region that is user-friendly

• The Limousin region is the 6th leading region in France in terms of demographic attractiveness,
• Foreign companies employ approximately 44% of industrial manpower in the region (excluding the agro-food sector),
• Limoges was ranked n°1 in terms of quality of the environment by Impact Médecine magazine, and the Brive book fair is the 2nd leading book event after the Salon du Livre in Paris.

A region that offers quality infrastructures

Limoges, the capital of the region (population of 240 000) is only 3 hours from Paris by train, and 1 hour by plane, and 1 hour from Lyon by plane (daily flights), but is also accessible from England (London: 1 hour 30 minutes).
Brive (population of 90 000), situated at the junction between the A20 and A89 motorways, is two hours from Toulouse, Bordeaux and Clermont Ferrand.
A network of over 1 000 km of fiber optic cables provides companies and private households with high quality broadband access.

Centers of excellence

The University of Limoges has 1 100 research-teaching staff, research scientists and doctors, three engineering schools, a University Institute of Technology, and a student population of 22 000. There are several fields of specialization organized around 4 research institutes: Xlim (IT, mathematics, optics, electromagnetism and electronics), the Institute of applied processes for materials (IPAM), the Institute of genetics, environment, immunity, health and therapeutics (GEIST) and the Institute of human and social sciences (SHS).

The Limousin region has two clusters: Elopsys (microwave technology, photonics and secure systems) and the European ceramics cluster. The region is also involved in 4 other registered clusters (ViaMéca, Cancer Bio-Santé, InnoViandes, Sciences and electrical energy systems).

The Limousin is also active in the wood and the water-environment-energy sectors.

International leaders

• Legrand, world leader in low voltage electrical equipment, and Photonis, world leader in photo sensor technology,
• Madrange, n°1 in Europe for cooked meats, and Blédina, a subsidiary of Danone, that produces 200 million jars of baby food per year,
• International Paper, whose main production unit in Western Europe, is based in Haute-Vienne, but also Smurfit Kappa, SCA Packaging Nicollet, Saica in the wood-paper sector,
• The automotive parts supplier Borgwarner, which invested 45 million euros between 2004 and 2006 for its new 15 000m² factory at Tulle.

International service companies are also based in the region, for example Norisko at Limoges, the Danish firm ISS Abilis, or the Transcom Worldwide call center based near to Tulle, subsidiary of the Swedish group Kinnevik.