Overview
- Emmanuel Macron’s Choose France summit recorded a record €93 billion in announced foreign investment commitments and more than 70 pledges, with the government citing roughly 15,600 jobs tied to the package.
- Japanese group SoftBank is reported to plan about €45 billion for three data centers in Hauts‑de‑France, projects that organizers say would employ about 8,000 people for construction and roughly 900 permanent staff once operational.
- Analysts warn the largest sums are flowing to AI and data centers, which are capital‑intensive and create few long‑term local jobs once built, meaning headline totals may overstate lasting employment gains.
- Economists caution many announcements may be acquisitions of existing French assets rather than new greenfield capacity, and critics such as MP François Ruffin warn this trend could weaken national control over digital infrastructure.
- Choose France, launched in 2018 to boost inbound investment, keeps France top in European FDI project counts but leaves open questions about timing of delivery, tax treatment of profits, and whether the deals will revive domestic industry.