Business / Trade in France
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FRANCE, 2017/07/29
French president Emmanuel Macron called Italian prime minister Paolo Gentiloni on Thursday evening (27 July) to defuse tensions amid accusations of "colonialism" in Libya and economic "protectionism".
The call was "friendly", Gentiloni's office said, hours next his government had stated that a French decision to nationalise a shipyard was "critical and incomprehensible".
The French government decided on Thursday to "temporarily" take control of the STX shipyards, in Saint-Nazaire, western France, in order to block a takeover by Italian national-owned company Fincantieri, which was due to take result on Saturday.
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CHINA, 2017/07/10
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron agreed here Saturday to promote bilateral relations and cooperation.
"The Chinese side is willing to make concerted efforts with the French side to continue to view the bilateral relations from a strategic height and a long-term perspective, and work for a better development of our ties," Xi said during a conference with Macron on the sidelines of the annual summit of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies in Hamburg, Germany.
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FRANCE, 2016/01/28
According to the INSSE business climate survey, the business confidence indicator remained stable in January at December’s 102 points, which had marked a three-month high. Thus, the indicator remains slightly above the long-term 100-point average, which is the benchmark measure the INSEE uses to distinguish between improving and worsening business expectations.
According to the INSEE, the result came on the back of improvements in businesses’ assessment regarding their personal and general production expectations, which offset a fall in completed activity and inventories.
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FRANCE, 2016/01/11
A credit facility agreement between Egypt and the French Development Agency (AFD) for the establishment of a photovoltaic power plant has been approved by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.The power plant will be built in Kom Ombo City, in the south of Egypt with a capacity of 20 megawatts, according to the official Gazette issued on Sunday.
In an October 2015 trip to Cairo, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls signed the project’s loan agreement worth €40 million as part of a memoranda of considerate reached during an Economic Development Conference that was taking place in Egypt at the time.
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FRANCE, 2015/10/23
French President François Hollande begins a two-day visit to Athens on Thursday, bringing badly-needed support to Greece’s left-wing government amid tough talks with the country’s creditors.
It marks the initial visit by a French president since 2008, at the same time as Hollande's predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy last travelled to the deficit-saddled country.
Hollande will be accompanied by at least four members of his cabinet inclunding Finance Minister Michel Sapin, and a number of business chiefs.
A French government source said the president was bringing "a message of confidence and optimism in Greece's next".
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FRANCE, 2015/09/23
President Muhammadu Buhari in Paris assured French investors of his government's commitment to provide a suitable business environment that would boost economic activities and create jobs for the youth.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Buhari gave the assurance at a gathering of investors at the France-Nigeria Business Forum held at the headquarters of the French Business Confederation in Paris.
President Buhari said his decision to approach headlong the issue of insecurity within the early days of his government was to ensure the safety of all citizens and guarantee investment for both local and foreign investors.
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IRAN, 2015/09/20
A senior French economic and political delegation heads to Tehran on Sunday to lay the groundwork for the initial business contracts between France and Iran since an accord to curb its nuclear programme in July.
France’s major business lobby group, the Medef, is sending a delegation comprising additional than 100 firms to Iran, inclunding companies such as oil major Total, planemaker Airbus and car manufacturer Peugeot.
“We’re trying to identify areas where we can move forward, but we’re not going to do business at any cost.”
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FRANCE, 2015/07/07
The visit by the President of France, François Hollande, to Angola resulted in the signing of letters of intent to order hundreds of millions of euros of shipbuilding and infrastructure construction from French companies.
These agreements were reached during the Angola/France business forum, which was attended by dozens of businessmen from both nations, one of which was between French company Ecoceane, specialised in construction of anti-marine pollution vessels, and Angola’s LTP Energy.
The two companies will form a consortium for the supply of nine anti-pollution vessels to oil companies operating in Angola, with an estimated cost of US$50 million (45 million euros).
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FRANCE, 2015/05/09
France and Saudi Arabia are discussing economic projects worth tens of billions of euros, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Tuesday.
"If concluded, these 20 projects would be worth tens of billions of euros," Fabius told reporters in Riyadh.
French President Francois Hollande is as well in Saudi Arabia to attend a Gulf leaders' summit on Tuesday, a day next he oversaw the signing of a warplanes transaction with Qatar worth 6.3 billion euros ($7 billion).
Fabius said that some of the projects were in the armament sector and "will be finalised in the coming months".
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FRANCE, 2015/05/09
Qatar signed a multi-billion-euro transaction with French defence group Dassault on Monday to buy 24 Rafale fighter jets, in a ceremony attended by the leaders of both nations in Doha.
The arrangement was signed by Dassault CEO Eric Trappier and Qatari General Ahmed al-Malki, who oversaw negotiations for the 6.3-billion-euro ($7-billion) transaction.
French President Francois Hollande told Malki during the ceremony that Qatar had made a "good choice" in purchasing the warplanes, a correspondent said.
