President Emmanuel Macron courted global CEOs, including Elon Musk at Versailles, inviting them to invest in France.

President Emmanuel Macron hosted the fourth edition of the "Choose France" summit at the Palace of Versailles on Monday, May 15, 2023. The event brought together over 200 CEOs from some of the world's largest companies, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk, to discuss investment opportunities in France.

In his opening remarks, Macron highlighted France's strengths as an investment destination, including its skilled workforce, strong research and development capabilities, and favorable business climate. He also announced a number of new measures to attract foreign investment, such as a simplified tax system for foreign companies and a new visa program for high-skilled workers.

The CEOs who attended the summit were impressed by Macron's commitment to making France a more attractive investment destination. Musk, for example, said that he was "very impressed" with what he had seen in France and that Tesla was "considering making significant investments" in the country.

The "Choose France" summit is a key part of Macron's economic agenda. The event is designed to showcase France's strengths as an investment destination and to encourage foreign companies to set up shop in the country. The summit has been a success in recent years, with France attracting record levels of foreign investment.

The success of the "Choose France" summit is a testament to Macron's commitment to economic growth. The event has helped to put France on the map as a global leader in business and investment. It is also a sign of the confidence that foreign companies have in the French economy.

The "Choose France" summit is a positive development for the French economy. The event has helped to attract foreign investment, which will create jobs and boost economic growth. The summit is also a sign of Macron's commitment to making France a more attractive investment destination.

The Choose France 2023 summit was a significant event in which France announced receiving €13 billion in foreign investments, with more than 200 business leaders present. This sixth edition of the summit was held in Versailles on May 15, in the presence of President Emmanuel Macron.

The summit was the venue for various announcements, including 28 new or extended projects, worth a total of €13 billion, which was more than in 2022 (€10.6 billion) and 2021 (€3.6 billion). The foreign investments were expected to result in 8,000 direct job creations, particularly in medium-sized cities. These announcements echoed the findings of an Ernst and Young (EY) survey published on May 12, which suggested that France remains the most attractive country in Europe in terms of the number of projects if not jobs created, particularly in the area of research and development.

President Macron did not give a speech at the summit, as he had already outlined his industrial policy earlier that week, referring to reindustrialization as the "mother of all battles." In an interview published on the day of the summit, he attributed France's attractiveness to "clear, bold reforms and above all that we maintain them," despite various crises and challenges. He highlighted the decrease in corporate taxation, which is returning to the European average, as an example of such reforms.

As in previous years, President Macron met face-to-face with the heads of six foreign groups: US-based Pfizer and Disney, Denmark's Novo Nordisk, Belgium's Solvay, India's Arcelor Mittal, and Thailand's CP Group, an agribusiness and retail conglomerate. He also met with Tesla and Twitter owner Elon Musk. According to EY's "Barometer of France's Attractiveness," fewer foreign executives than in previous years were optimistic about investment prospects over a three-year horizon, and President Macron had to reassure them.

The investments announced at the summit were in line with the "greenifying" of the economy. Many projects were "emblematic of green reindustrialization," allowing France to "position itself at the heart of the value chain for the production of equipment in the renewable and low-carbon energy sectors, as well as for electric vehicles." Two flagship projects in Dunkirk, announced in the same week, concerned electric vehicles.

In the context of reducing dependence on Chinese products, Taiwan's ProLogium announced plans to invest €5.2 billion by 2030 to build a factory producing solid-state batteries, an alternative technology to lithium-ion, with some 3,000 jobs at stake. In addition, the Chinese battery materials producer XTC signed joint venture agreements with the nuclear group Orano to manufacture precursors and cathodes for recycling, with the total investment amounting to €1.5 billion.