Microsoft and Amazon lead global FDI pledges worth $16bn to France

▶ Country receives investment promises for 56 projects as Macron hosts 180 CEOs for annual summit

France received €15 billion ($16.2 billion) in investment commitments as companies including Microsoft, Amazon and Pfizer, as well as financial institutions such as JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, look to boost their presence in the EU’s second-largest economy.

Foreign direct investment topped the €13 billion in commitments the French economy received from global investors last year as President Emmanuel Macron hosted 180 chief executives for the “Choose France” summit on Monday.

Some of the top sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East were among those who attended the annual event.

“I want to thank you for your trust and for these [investment] decisions,” Mr Macron said.

In its seventh iteration, the summit is part of the French government’s efforts for green re-industrialising and instituting regulatory reforms to bring in more FDI, as France looks to establish itself as centre of commerce and finance in the European bloc.

France has received investment commitments for 56 projects across sectors, which were unveiled by Mr Macron during his keynote address.

“These projects bring a lot more than just investments in the economy,” he said.

Microsoft led the pack of investors with a €4 billion announcement to develop its artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure in France.

The company will also help in training a million people and extend support to 2,500 AI start-ups until 2027 in France as part of its investment commitment, it said.

This is the latest AI investment by the US company. This year, Microsoft joined France’s Mistral AI in a €15 billion, multiyear deal to help accelerate its development. Amazon also has plans to invest €1.2 billion on infrastructure and computing, while pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Sanofi are also investing €500 million and €1 billion, respectively, the Elysee Palace announced earlier.

Morgan Stanley is also expanding its European campus in the French capital, featuring a global research centre, Bloomberg quoted French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire as saying on Saturday. First Abu Dhabi Bank, the biggest UAE bank by assets, and Nigeria’s Zenith Bank are also set to open offices in Paris.

Mr Le Maire also hosted a lunch for global bankers, including top bosses from JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, as well as private equity company KKR.

Morgan Stanley, which has already increased its Paris staff to about 400 from 150 since 2021, will add 100 more people across all of its Paris divisions, including its research and development centre, a bank representative told Bloomberg.

The new investment announcements are expected to significantly boost jobs in France; the 28 projects announced last year accounted for more than 8,000.

The Inaugural Choose France summit in 2018 received €2.1 billion in FDI pledges for 10 projects, and even during Covid in 2020, the country received €607 million in FDI commitments. The scale has risen steadily since to almost €10.8 billion in 2022, according to government data.

France has carried out tax reforms and is pushing to simplify the business environment to attract FDI.

It is focused on re-industrialising the economy, with major investments in making green batteries and hydrogen, as well as AI, which are central planks of the country’s innovation policy.

Paris, which is trying to lower national debt and boost growth momentum, is pursuing the France 2030 Investment Plan, an overarching agenda that aims to attract €54 billion in FDI by the end of this decade.

“This is the fifth year we are the number one in terms of attractiveness [for investment in Europe] … because for the first we had to work hard, after that we delivered and then we maintained,” Mr Macron said. “This is, for me, the best evidence … that our reforms and our agenda are producing results.”

France has deep economic and political ties with Arab nations, especially with those in the GCC.

Chief executives of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Qatar Investment Authority, Kuwait Investment Authority, Bahrain’s Mumtalakat, as well as representatives of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company are among those attending the summit, according to French officials.

I want to thank you for your trust … These projects bring a lot more than just investments in the economy

EMMANUEL MACRON

French President