Today's Date:

Speech by Dominique de Villepin, Prime Minister (excerpts).

(…)

1. This meeting was first of all the opportunity to take stock of the impact of the measures we've taken over the past few months to enhance France's investment attractiveness.

At the last government seminar on investment attractiveness, in May 2006, we agreed on 40 measures to be adopted. All these measures are now in force and were brought in on schedule.

We have reformed the taxe professionnelle [business tax based on capital and turnover], which has been capped at 3.5% of a company's added value since 1 January 2007. This measure is particularly important for industrial companies which are investing heavily.

We have simplified the legal, regulatory and administrative environment for businesses. I'm thinking, for example, of the complete abolition of the carte de commerçant [foreign trader licence]. I'm also thinking of the e-government portal [www.administration24h24.gouv.fr] which I officially launched last week.

We have made it easier for the best foreign researchers, students and executives to come and work in France.

Thanks to simplification of the tax status of foreign expatriates working in France, which has enabled their expatriation allowances to be exempted from income tax;

Thanks to the National Research Agency. By financing large-scale projects, of the order of nearly €4 billion, she is attracting internationally-renowned scientists;

Thanks finally to the "guest researcher" card which entitles holders to personal assistance with the formalities they have to carry out when they come to work in France.

These measures fall within the framework of the ambitious policy we have been conducting for a year and a half to make France more investment friendly and our businesses more competitive.

First of all, through the establishment of a competitive taxation system compared with our European partners. This applies to business. It also applies to individuals, thanks to the reform of income tax and the creation of the "bouclier fiscal" [which limits all tax liabilities – income tax, local tax on sole or main residence and wealth tax – to 60% of a taxpayer's income]. (…)

We have also launched an unprecedented effort to promote research and innovation. (…) We have for example set up two new agencies to finance promising projects for the future. (…) We have also accorded the "competitive cluster" brand label to 66 areas in the country. All in all, in three years we'll have invested €6 billion in research and innovation.

Finally, I want to salute the remarkable work of Christine Lagarde, who is tirelessly working to promote France's image and rapid modernization among foreign investors.

2. The result, as all the business chiefs I've seen today have confirmed to me, is that France is increasingly investment friendly.

Our country is the third-largest destination for foreign direct investment in the world, top in the Euro Area. According to the latest estimates, foreign direct investment in France was up by nearly 40% in 2006 compared with $63 billion in 2005 and $24 billion in 2005. So our country is one of the most open in the world. One French person in seven works in a company with foreign origins, compared with just one in ten in Britain and one in 20 in the United States.

We welcome this investment.

First of all, because it creates jobs: over 30,000 in 2005 and over 35,000 in 2006. These are most often high-level jobs, increasingly concentrated in high added-value sectors and with a high technological content.

Secondly, because this investment is stimulating our long-term growth and our innovations. Indeed it provides an opportunity for swapping experiences and for technology transfers. (…)./.