Indian group Wipro technologies has decided to make France one of its European priorities.

Already based in Sophia-Antipolis, where it has a research and development centre, as well as in Clermont-Ferrand and Toulouse, the IT giant, whose head-quarters are based in Bangalore, has just announced the creation of an R&D centre in Rennes, with the help of the Invest in France Agency and its regional partners.
The new site in Rennes is in the process of being set up with the recruitment of 65 engineers in the next 12 months. The group was influenced by the presence of the innovation cluster Rennes Atalante, specialist in information and communication technology. It is also a location which allows Wipro to draw closer to its major telecommunication accounts. Wipro technologies already employs 200 people in France and wishes to double its staff by 2010/2011. The group does not exclude establishing other regional centres depending on future commercial opportunities.

Finnish steel construction products manufacturer Peikko Group is expanding its presence in Europe by establishing new subsidiaries in France, Latvia and Ukraine.

The French subsidiary, Peikko France SAS, will be based in the greater Paris area, and will be responsible for sales and engineering support in France, and will be supplied by the company's factory in Germany.

The papermaking firm Soustre, a subsidiary of the Finnish company Stora Enso specialising in the manufacture of cardboard for tubes, has announced an investment of 4.5 million euros.

The investment will chiefly be used to finance a new press that uses less water. Soustre employs 90 people in Saint-Seurin-sur-l'Isle near Bordeaux.

The American group Silliker, specialising in food health and safety, is to set up a chemical laboratory in Merville (Nord Pas-de-Calais).

The French subsidiary of the American company already has the biggest microbiology analysis platform since the acquisition of Clabo Conseil earlier in the year. By 2010, Silliker is to build a 2,500 m² laboratory on a 2 hectare site, and will recruit 100 employees over three years, half of whom this year. Silliker France has 950 employees with a turnover of 55 million euros.

The Spanish company specialising in photovoltaic energy, Siliken SL, has opened offices in France in Portet sur Garonne near Toulouse (Midi Pyrénées).

It is the first time the company has had an office in France.