The EY (Exernst) annually conducts the 2021 barometer on France’s attractiveness. It is a result of an audit, tax, and legal firm.
France made 1,222 decisions regarding foreign capital to establish or expand companies. This is 24% more than the 2020 figure. This figure is higher than the entire United Kingdom (993 investment decisions), and much more than Germany with its 841 foreign investments planned for 2021. Europe is generally viewed as a safe investment destination by foreign investors. 63% of them believe that Europe, despite current geopolitical tensions and its potential to increase its attractiveness in the future, will continue to maintain their confidence.
EY experts surveyed 56% foreign executives who are French-based and found that they intend to increase their France activities over the next 12 months. These same economic decision-makers wanted to expand their activities in France in 2019, with 16% and 44% respectively. This should enable France to keep its position as the European leader in foreign investments in the future barometer…
According to the EY study, New Aquitaine saw a 51% increase in decisions made in 2021, compared with 53 in 2020. This would mean that 7% of French foreign investment decisions were concentrated in the region. This result is not in line with the Agency for Development and Innovation Nouvelle-Aquitaine (ADI) results. The study, which was conducted in collaboration with Business France, uncovered 116 foreign investments that were unheard of since 2018. This figure is 66% higher than in 2020. According to the ADI Business France study 2,176 jobs could be created by investments.
These figures are not in an upward trend. This is partly due to foreign investors’ positive perception of Bordeaux. According to the EY study, Bordeaux ranks ahead of Lyon, Montpellier, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg and Marseille in France’s ranking of cities with an attractive image for investors. The investments are not only beneficial to the large cities. Companies with fewer than 50,000 residents are the most likely to be interested in industrial investments.
From where does foreign investment in our region come? European companies will account for 63% of all investment projects by 2021. The United States accounts for 19% of all cases, which is a decrease from 2020 (22%). According to EY, New Aquitaine’s most prominent German companies are 12 to wish to invest. Just ahead of Belgium (9 decisions), the Americans have 11 investment files.
