Report on Attracted Investments in 2011 for the Alpes Maritimes
The number of implantations is identical to 2010 with the notable contribution of several companies from high growth countries.
On the occasion of the « World Investment Conference », held on La Baule from June 20 to June 22, Team Côté d’Azur has presented the report on attracted investments in the Côte d’Azur in 2011. As part of a national trend, with a fall in the number of jobs and amounts invested by international companies, the Côte d’Azur retains nevertheless a number of new offices established identical to that of 2010 due to the notable contribution of several companies from emerging nations.
Indeed, the eleventh France Attractiveness Survey, presented by the audit and consulting firm Ernst & Young on June 20th, focuses on a national decline in emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India and China (23 new offices out of 540, or just over 4%), the Côte d’Azur, historically an international area, sheds a different light on France's attractiveness with almost 17% of its 2011 investments originating in these countries.
Indeed, out of the 30 investment decisions made in 2011, 5 were from these regions:
- YANBAL, a leading South American cosmetics company which opened a R&D centre
- ASSOCIATE ALLIED CHEMICALS, an Indian wholesale company in aromatic plants and natural essential oils
- BERTA and SHELUKHIN (hotels) and OLGA FAMILY OFFICE (financial services), three Russian companies
More broadly, it should be noted that the share of foreign investment attracted by the Côte d'Azur in 2011 was 53%, which is the same level as 2010. This result confirms the region's international nature and its attractiveness to foreign companies looking for their first French office. These 16 decisions by foreign companies also represented 58% of jobs announced of the announced jobs creation.
The Côte d'Azur, gateway to France for foreign R&D
In 2011, the PACA region stood out by being placed third nationally for decision-making and R&D centres (Source: Assessment of foreign direct investment in France - AFII 2011). Since 2006, the Côte d'Azur has received 19% of foreign R&D investment decisions in France, representing 39 sites for 1 480 jobs, which is 20% of foreign companies' R&D jobs in France over the period. In this context, the Côte d'Azur remains PACA's leading region in terms of foreign investments with 42.5% of these decisions.
Team Côte d’Azur, strong initiatives to the service of international decision makers
The agency carried out several key initiatives in 2011 in order to provide the best support to investment projects by international decision-makers, in particular:
- during the B20 in Cannes, and the G20 Yes in Nice where the main foreign entrepreneurs on the Côte d’Azur were asked to play host to the CEOs of some of the largest international groups and the most promising young foreign entrepreneurs
- with the launch of the "Invest in Côte d’Azur" application, the first geolocated communication smartphone app which enables international entrepreneurs to meet and gain access to the region's leaders in their respective business areas.
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The Alpes-Maritimes was selected to support the opening of 27 new companies, 2 takeovers and one extension, totalling 30 successful projects conducted by Team Côte d'Azur in 2011
These new business facilities and extensions represent 48 million euros of productive private investment scheduled over the next three years. These investment decisions will generate 434 direct, high value-added jobs creating a knock-on effect in sub-contracting and service jobs. To achieve these results, Team Côte d’Azur identified and monitored 273 projects in 2011. The agency's 2011 results are equivalent in terms of the number of investments to those of 2010 (30), but the average size of the projects supported fell from 20 to 15 jobs.
In 2011, Team Côte d’Azur targeted ICT and environmental technologies. This proved to be a winning strategy.
>> The ICT sector is still on top.
With 37% of decisions and represented 57% of the announced jobs (compared with 46% in 2010), the ICT sector once again made a major a contribution based on the region’s leading position in France.
Of note in this sector, the establishment of a European research and development centre by an American manufacturer developing antenna solutions for wireless devices and the decision-making centre for the KNOWGO Danish company (software publisher).
The delivery of a Campus dedicated specifically to information technologies, the creation of business incubators and the provision of the latest infrastructures helping to anticipate new uses for future mobile networks are just some of the initiatives that should allow the Côte d'Azur to remain the location of choice on the map for ICT investments in Europe.
>> The environmental technologies sector continues to grow
The environmental technologies sector, which has had an obvious impact since 2009, contributed to 20% of investment decisions in 2011, compared with 13% in 2010. This growth was reflected by the establishment of an R&D centre for the British company BLUE PEARL Technologies in the wind turbines sector. Since 2011, the French Riviera Eco Valley has also been home to two of the most symbolic demonstrator projects accredited by the national "Future Investments" programme: NiceGrid managed by ERDG (€32m over 4 years, supported by the European Grid4EU programme) and Réflexe (€9m over 3 years).
>> The health and well-being and services sectors remain constant
The health and well-being sector represented 13% of decisions, as in 2010, for 14% of jobs, generated by investments by 2 companies, namely the Indian ASSOCIATE ALLIED CHEMICALS in the aroma industry and the Peruvian YANBAL, which opened an R&D centre in the perfume industry.
The service sector represented 30% of decisions as in 2010, and 14% of jobs, in sectors such as hotels, legal advice and financial services.
The mechanics of investment decisions
What was the most requested support from Team Côte d’Azur from investment decision-makers in 2011?
The mobilisation of the Côte d’Azur's ecosystem specific to each investor is the leading action requested of the agency (97%), e.g. competitiveness clusters, universities, laboratories, etc.
Next came, assistance in finding premises (63%), then almost equally putting together applications for investment aid (33%) and assistance with geographical mobility for staff (27%).
