Invest in France Agency north-america Office

At the same time as businesses began to develop their production and distribution activities in foreign countries, their tertiary activities also became international. An important international “market” consequently evolved to attract these activities: 250 projects per year in Europe over the past four years, according to IFA estimations. France offers several major advantages to attract these projects:

High quality manpower, good quality/cost ratio

Our country has one of the most highly qualified workforces in Europe: 37% of the 25-34 age group for example are further education graduates, compared with the European Union average of 29%. Employment costs for engineers and management personnel in France, including social security charges, are lower than in northern Europe.

A large capital city that a attracts company

Paris offers advantages which are similar, or even superior, to those in London, Brussels or Frankfurt: international airport hub, Europe’s 2nd most important stock

Paris, 2nd favorite city for businesses setting up in Europe

exchange, 2nd largest concentration of decision-centers worldwide. Also, the availability of real estate: in 2006, more than 2.6 million m2 of office space were commercialized in the Ile-de-France region, at much lower rates than in the London area. This explains why, in the Cushman & Wakefield study, investment decision-makers voted the French capital the 2nd most attractive location to set up their European business activities.

Diverse facilities in urban areas, to cater

Thanks to ambitious urban regeneration programs (Part-Dieu in Lyon, Marseille Euromed, the old docks at Nantes, Euralille, etc.), most major French cities offer a range of modern office space. Prices are extremely competitive compared, for example, with cities in Great Britain which are quickly reaching saturation point. Our smaller urban areas also offer an attractive environment, as can be seen by the Transcom call center recently located at Soissons.

Quality infrastructures

This is particularly relevant to the ITC service industry, where quality infrastructure is indispensable for remote client contact and the management of cross-border networks. The broadband availability rate is now higher than 95% in France; telecom tariffs are among the lowest in the European Union; and the network is extremely reliable. These strong points go some way to explaining France’s positive performance in attracting these activities. This is in spite of strong competition from Britain, Switzerland and the Benelux countries for attracting company headquarters, and increased competition from offshore destinations (Morocco and Tunisia in

Over 2.6 million m² of commercial office space available in the Ile de France region in 2006.

particular) for attracting call centers and shared service centers. Every year, between 2001 and 2005, an average of 1,500 jobs were created in call centers, and 1,000 jobs were created in company headquarters and administration services, as a direct result of international investment. International companies that have already located their businesses in France include: Transcom, Clientlogic, Sitel, and Intracall (Fonecta). This positive performance was again improved upon in 2006, with call centers being set up by Creditsafe, Virgin Mobile and Expedia; and headquarters being set up by EZ System, as well as by several Chinese companies (BBCA, Hisense, China Unionpass, Watchdata). More than 4,000 jobs have been created or maintained this year in call centers, and a further 1,350 jobs in administration services and company headquarters.