The UAE remained the leading source country in GCC with nine investment projects in France since the last two years, followed by Saudi Arabia with four projects, a report said.

France attracted a total of 19 investments from GCC during the period, enabling 769 jobs to be created or safeguarded, added the “2014 Annual Report: Foreign investment in France, the international development of the French economy”. It analyzes foreign investment decisions in France and their contribution to the French economy.

Other GCC countries recorded rises, including Qatar and Bahrain. Investment projects from GCC are mainly related to production activities (chemical industry, plastics, aeronautics, agro food, fashion industry) and decision centres (primo-implantation).

The structure of investment projects has increased added value with the establishment of R&D centres and education facilities.

In 2014, 1,014 investment decisions created or maintained 26,535 jobs, among which there were 68 projects involving site takeovers by foreign investors that safeguarded 6 411 jobs. On a like-for-like basis with 2013, 740 investment decisions were recorded, up 8 per cent from 2013.

There were also 84 merger/acquisition or shareholding acquisition transactions announced, amounting to a total of more than €13.5 billion ($14.6 billion).

France continues to attract investments in high value-added business activities, particularly production/manufacturing and research, the report said.

Foreign companies invested primarily in production/manufacturing activities (303 projects), which accounted for 30 per cent of all investments made in France. These projects generated 11 601 jobs, or 44 per cent of all jobs.

Foreign investment projects in R&D, engineering design activities accounted for 9 per cent of all investments (91 projects, versus 77 last year). Twenty-seven percent of all business enterprise R&D expenditure in France is carried out by foreign-owned subsidiaries.

New investment decisions in headquarters were up too: 16 new Global/European Headquarters were recorded in 2014, versus five in 2013, and 12 in 2012, the report said.

“The number of investments is at its second highest in the last 10 years, which is good news. France is attracting investment, particularly in strategic activities like research and headquarters. I’m also pleased to note the diversity of source countries: while more than half of investments naturally came from European countries, 22 per cent were from North America and 12 per cent from Asia,” said Laurent Fabius, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development.

“The 8 per cent rise in foreign investment decisions is playing a part in generating growth in France,” said Muriel Pénicaud, France’s Ambassador for International Investment and CEO of Business France, the national agency supporting the international development of the French economy.

“In a globally competitive environment, it is crucial that we close the gap between perception and reality; for as these results show, France is an open, dynamic and innovative place to do business. Along with our economic development partners in France’s regions, Business France personnel provided support to 55 per cent of projects in the 2014 Annual Report, up 16 per cent from last year,” added Pénicaud. – TradeArabia News Service