10/05/2021
Third edition of the Choose France Awards 2021: Business France honors the contribution of international investors to the economic recovery
Business France has confirmed the Choose France Awards, now in its third year, as an essential meeting of investors. The event is organized under the auspices of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Ministry for the Economy, Finance and the Recovery, the Ministry for Territorial Cohesion and Relations with Local Authorities and in partnership with the Etats de la France – an annual debate on France’s attractiveness – run by the consulting firm DZA. While last year’s event focused on France’s regions, this third edition will shine a spotlight on the contribution of foreign investors to the economic recovery.
Nearly 60 foreign businesses from 20 countries and located in 12 French regions responded to the call for the Choose France Awards.
The winners were selected by a jury chaired by Pascal Cagni, Chairman of the Board, Business France, and Ambassador for International Investment, and bringing together institutional and qualified businesspeople.
The members of the jury chose to honor five projects that make a significant contribution to the “Relaunch France” plan and to award them the following prizes:
- “Ecological Transition” Prize: this was awarded to Norwegian firm Norske Skog, which invested €250 million in its paper mill in Golbey, Grand Est region, for the conversion of one of its newsprint production lines to 100% recycled cardboard packaging.
• “Competitiveness & Innovation” Prize: this was awarded to Belgian company X-FAB, which invested €65 million in 2021 to relocate high value-added automotive technologies from Asia to the Corbeil-Essonnes site, Ile de France / Paris region, for semiconductors to be manufactured in France.
• “Cohesion & Solidarity” Prize: this was awarded to German agricultural machinery manufacturer CLAAS, which, last year, opened a technology park in Ymeray, Centre-Val de Loire region. The new site will serve as a platform for the promotion of different trades and industry.
• Special “Contribution to the economic recovery plan” Prize: this was awarded to Chiesi, an Italian pharmaceutical laboratory which invested in the Chaussée-Saint-Victor industrial site, Centre-Val-de-Loire region, in order to develop metered-dose inhalers with a lower carbon impact. Autonomous in terms of energy, the laboratory contributes to the resilience of the healthcare system in France and to job creation.
• Special Talent Award: this was presented to the American giant Procter & Gamble, which invested €40 million in 2021 in its Amiens site to make it a responsible, supportive “Factory of the Future”, creating high-level, high-value industrial jobs.
Find out more about the Choose France Awards 2021 : click here.