Dominique Vidaron and Michelle Rose
PARIS (Reuters) – This year’s “France” business summit is set to secure new investments of 2 billion euros ($22.47 billion), French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a project in defense, energy, industry and artificial intelligence.
Macron’s personal efforts to plead international business leaders have made the French summit at the gorgeous palace of Versailles a must-see for the global corporate elite, and has been recognized for the perceptions of past French investors as a rigid economy that has been reeled by high taxes.
In addition to the 20 billion euros of new investments, Macron announced a project that focuses on AI worth around 2 billion euros at the Paris AI Summit in February.
“We have provided many investments in a variety of areas, including AI, Telco, …green hydrogen, circular economy and more…This is a very complete edition with 2 billion people invested as a follow-up to the February summit, and a 20 billion AI investment.
In a pledge made ahead of the summit, US logistics giant Prologis is planning to invest 6.4 billion euros in four data centres in the Paris region, while London-based Fintech Revolut is planning to invest 1 billion euros in expansion in France over the next three years and will apply for a French banking license.
The announcement was also made by the AI-centric MGX Fund in the United Arab Emirates, with others expected from companies ranging from Amazon to more common metals in the UK’s rare earth sector. Portuguese company Tekever will build a drone assembly plant in the southwest, an investment of 100 million euros, Elicie said.
Macron’s government is being pressured to stem the wave of industry employment cuts as the upheavals driven by US President Trump’s trade policy put even more pressure on the European flag-raising economy.
“We need to invest more in AI, greentech, defense and security, especially since this is a race,” Macron said.
France has said for the past six years that it has been the leading recipient of international investments in Europe, according to EY’s European Investment Monitor. This is an annual survey of thousands of business leaders seized by Macron advisors as evidence that supply-side reform cocktails are beneficial.
However, this year’s edition shows that the number of investment projects has declined for the second year in a row across Europe, while US investment projects ranked fifth between 2023 and 2024.
