Invest in France Agency north-america Office

Agrifood in France: Meeting sophisticated global challenges

From receiving raw materials to packaging consumer goods, the French equipment supplier industry offers a comprehensive range of products and services, meeting the increasingly sophisticated needs of the global agrifood industry. In 2006, the French agrifood industry was N°1 in Europe ahead of Germany and N°2 worldwide behind the United States. Discover in this document the best reasons to invest in the French agrifood industry.

Call centers in France

France is ranked 4th in the world (after Singapore, Canada and the United States) by KPMG for setting up administrative services and call centers in terms of global set-up costs.The three sectors in France with the most call centers are Banking and insurance, Telesales, ICT and Outsourcing. The world leader in call centers is the United States, with 4 million jobs and 60,000 call centers.France is relatively well positioned, with nearly the same number of call centers as in the United Kingdom.

France: A Hotspot for Energy Investment

France’s dynamic energy market is one of the most competitive in the world, known for being transparent and stable. Nuclear power has long been the focus of France’s energy strategy, supplying 77% of the nation’s electricity, but the market is now evolving at a rapid pace, driven by environmental initiatives, increased demand and the need for new types of energy.

Pharmaceutical in France : Talent, Innovation and leading-Edge research

France is a global leader in the pharmaceutical industry, recognized internationally for its skilled researchers, capacity for innovation and history of healthcare achievement. Research in life sciences is booming, driven by cross partnerships between some of the world’s best laboratories and biotechnology companies – including Sanofi-Aventis, GSK, Pierre Fabre, Pfizer, Roche, Ipsen, Astra Zeneca and Servier – which are all currently doing business in France.

Spotlight on French excellence in microelectronics

France has built its world-leading position in microelectronics on a range of assets, including extensive experience in setting up clusters of expertise combining production with research, education & training, and offering a high-quality industrial environment that benefits from extremely efficient R&D infrastructures.

Biotechnologies in France

France, a new Hotbed for biotechnology investment?

Functional and technical textiles in France: proven expertise and success

Combining its proven expertise and know-how of the textile industry with that of other sectors such as chemistry, mechanical and civil engineering, medical and agriculture, France has positioned itself as a key player in the functional & technical textiles industry.

Agribusiness

History, geography and economic development have made Europe the leading partner in international trade. Europe is an ideal platform for food export with main exports going to the US (21%), Japan (8%), Russia (6%), Switzerland (6%).

France: a top biotech investment climate

The French Biotechnology sector can make profit from its propitious environment. France academic research is excellent. France accommodates major actors of the agro-food and pharmaceutical industry. It offers a good environment for industry with adapted subcontracting services.

Nanotechnologies in France

Nanotechnology has now escaped the theoretical realm of the research lab and cemented its place in the industry, with applications in the semiconductor, automotive, aviation and pharmaceuticals industries to name but a few. These technologies are likely to give a lasting boost to world economic growth over the next fifteen years. To prepare itself for these new challenges, France has organised its policy of public subsidies for R&D and innovation and has introduced ambitious programmes to encourage co-operation between manufacturers and public sector research establishments.

Spotlight on French expertise in the film industry

Its many strengths make France a favored location for the film industry.

Spotlight on French excellence in communication technologies

France has a long-standing reputation for excellence in telecommunications research and development, drawing on a wide range of strengths. French companies and researchers have won international recognition for their innovations in Communication Technologies.

Spotlight on French excellence in software and it services

France has a longstanding reputation for excellence in software development, software technolgies and it services, where it draws on a range of strengths. A number of French IT companies have won international recognition.

Non-food Agricultural Products

New Sources of Energy

In France, there are various renewable sources of energy:windpower, biomass made up mainly of wood (woodenergy), solar power, hydro power using liquid flows, and geothermal energy using heat from the earth’s crust. In France, renewable sources of energy represent a little under 6% of primary energy consumption.

Clinical Trails

The range of tests carried out on human subjects are to assess the safety, effi ciency and conditions of administration of a therapeutic molecule before the product is launched. Clinical trials are carried out once in vitro and animal testing (preclinical trials) are judged satisfactory. Today, around 1,000 clinical trials are carried out each year in France, involving several hundred high-skilled jobs per year.

Computer Animation Technologies

France offers significant advantages and skills in the field of computer animation technologies. Apart from England and Germany, France is the only country in Europe with an industry that is both dynamic and established. France has three companies ranked among the top-15 video games publishers worldwide: Vivendi Universal Games, UbiSoft and Atari/Infogrames; and two of the major players in the mobile phone game sector: Gameloft and In Fusio.

Financial Services

The finance industry is an established sector that contributes significantly to French GDP (4.5%) and employment (700,000 jobs), and is a deciding factor for the development of companies and a way of maintaining control over decision centers. The financial services sector is mainly made up of banks and insurance companies, but also investment funds.

Functionnal Foods

The strong position of the French agro-food industry is an advantage for exporting all over Europe. In addition to its leading position, foreign consumers consider that French products offer high quality and they associate them with a healthy balanced diet. This puts France in a privileged position and the development of specific products that offer health benefits is a further advantage for winning new markets.

In Vitro Diagnostics

The IVD industry in France represents 196 companies (10,000 employees), more than 4,000 private laboratories (around 35,000 employees) and hospital laboratories. The splintered nature of this sector is specific to France, unlike Belgium or Germany which both work around large technical platforms and thus concentrate business around 200 players. The in vitro diagnostics industry (IVD) develops and markets devices and equipment (instrumentation
and reagents) for carrying out medical analyses outside the human body
(in vitro).

Innovative Materials

In France, 2,000 companies are involved in this market segment, which employs more than 300,000 persons and generates 43 billion euros of turnover. The automotive sector is the main field of application.

ITER

ITER is an experimental nuclear fusion reactor based on extreme temperature plasma heating technology using a very strong electromagnetic current within a confi nement chamber. The project was created 20 years ago (1985, launched by Gorbachev). France has a high level of expertise in the field of nuclear power that is being reinforced by the ITER project being located on its territory (number of captive or semi-captive projects).

Microelectronics

With major investment and R&D projects, France has launched leading research and production clusters in the field of semiconductors. By promoting local business opportunities to attract investment and expertise in key technology sectors, a coherent network of expertise has been created in France. This network includes major players such as STMicroelectronics, n°1 in Europe and n°5 worldwide in this sector, and public sector laboratories such as CEA LETI.

Motors

Sixth leading manufacturer of private cars worldwide, 2nd largest manufacturer of utility vehicles and industrial vehicles in Europe, France constitutes a prime location for production, research and development of transmissions and engine equipment. French manufacturers, including Renault (world champion in F1 in 2005 and 2006, 2nd in 2007), and Citroën (world champion in 2005 rally, 2nd in 2006), have an acknowledged expertise in the field of motors worldwide.

Outsourcing

Outsourcing various support service functions is a very large market which includes logistics services, administrative support services (finance, accounting, payroll,…) and customer service centers. This market segment is very dynamic due to the combined effects of intrinsic growth in these activities, and increased outsourcing to external service providers.

Telecom

France excels through its exceptional innovative potential in the field of telecommunications. It has some of the fl agship companies in the communications technology industry: France Télécom/Orange, Alcatel-Lucent, at the forefront of broadband technology, Thomson, one of the leading companies worldwide for digital video technologies, a key supplier of the Media and Entertainment sector.

Waste Product Recycling

The recycling sector in France represents 2,400 companies employing a total of 31,550 people. In France, 38.7 million tons of waste are transformed into 31.9 million tons of raw materials each year. The sector represents 19.4% of exports. There are several sub-segments that are well organized and managed in order to treat 700 million tons of waste products in France.

Bio-manufacturing

Pharmaceutical drugs are no longer the domain of chemists only. Over the past 30 years, genetics and molecular biology have completely revolutionized therapeutics. In 2005, laboratories specialized in biodrugs achieved a turnover of €51.6 billion. Today, their products are more often than not innovative treatments for serious diseases such as cancer.