The 23 French businessmen who visited Greece bring new investments and factories

Of George Lampiris

The visit of the French business delegation, the Association of Companies and Industries from France (MEDEF) brings a new cycle of investments to Greece in the context of the three-day visit that ended on Wednesday 11 May.

In the frame, according to government sources, in addition to new investments from companies that already have a presence in Greece, there will soon be investments for the creation of new factories by companies that are not yet active in our country.

Among the meetings that the French businessmen had, they met the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as well as eight ministers of the Greek government.

RES are high on the agenda – Long-term investments are in focus

Renewable energy was high on the agenda at the time
The reduction of gas emissions becomes particularly topical and given that Greece offers those prospects for the development of infrastructure of this kind.

The focus of French entrepreneurs is long-term investments in our country with emphasis, among other things, on areas related to climate change prevention and sustainable development.

Georgiadis: Serious discussions in two cases about investments in RES and retraining

The Minister of Development and Investment, Adonis Georgiadis, who had meetings with businessmen, tells Capital.gr that discussions are already at an advanced stage in two of the cases for upcoming investments in our country:

“Discussions with French businessmen focus on renewable energy, staff retraining, defense industry and digital. Serious discussions have already begun in two cases on investments in Greece in the fields of renewable energy and retraining. (reskilling) ”.

Th. Skylakakis: Focus on budget and recovery fund

As reported in Capital.gr The Deputy Minister of Finance, Theodoros Skylakakis: “information was provided on the Greek economy and the budget as well as on the possibilities of the Recovery Fund.

Mr. Skylakakis was one of the ministers who participated in the meetings with the French delegation at an event held at the hotel, King George, with the participation of the Minister of Finance Christos Staikouras and the Minister of Digital Government, Kyriakos Pierakakis and SEV under the president of SEV Dimitris Papalexopoulos.

It is noted that on Tuesday night a closed dinner was given to the French delegation at the premises of the French embassy, ​​under the French ambassador, Patrick Maisonnave.

At 1.5 billion euros, French investments in Greece in 2021

France is one of the largest foreign investors in Greece, a fact which was also mentioned by the President of SEV, Dimitris Papalexopoulos, welcoming the French delegation to Greece. French investment totaled € 1.5 billion by 2021.

Among them: Vinci in infrastructure, Lafarge (Cement industry), Michelin (maintains logistics facilities in Avlona) and Imerys (bauxite), Ocean Winds, Akuo Energy, Valorem in Renewable Energy, L’oreal in cosmetics, Pierre Fabre and Anosi – Aventis in pharmaceuticals, AXA and Groupama in insurance, Thales and Alstom in high-tech products, Danone, Delifrance and Pernod – Ricard in the food industry, Sofitel in the hotel industry and many more.

The French companies that participated in the MEDEF mission in Greece

Aerophile: World balloon giant)

Agence Alps: Activity in the field of marketing and tourism

Airbus is one of the leading forces in global aeronautics. Its revenue in 2021 was 52.15 billion euros with a net profit of 4.17 billion and a total asset value of 107 billion euros.

The Bolloré Groupwas founded in 1822. It is majority controlled by the Bolloré family with a turnover of € 20 billion in 2021 and an EBITDA of € 1.3 billion.

It has a strong activity in its three areas of activity: transport and logistics, communications, electricity storage and communications. It operates in 130 countries.

Brics Access is a company that specializes and mediates to promote partnerships between French companies and their counterparts in emerging countries and is headquartered in Paris.

Her name Bouygues Batiment International was heard louder in Greece recently. This is the company that was recently selected to provide management services (Early Contractor Involvement) for the Residential Tower in Elliniko (Marina Tower).

THE Bouygues employs more than 25,000 people, has a turnover of around € 2 billion and has implemented hundreds of projects worldwide, covering all sectors of the construction industry, including infrastructure, homes, offices, hotels, shops, sports facilities, hospitals, skyscrapers and projects big scale.

Club Egis maintains a presence in the consulting and construction sectors, with activity in 120 countries around the world and a turnover in 2021 that amounted to 1.16 billion euros.

The Fives group is active in the manufacture of mechanical equipment and the development of technologies for industry

H Galileo Global Education is active in the field of education as it maintains training centers in 13 countries in the fields of arts, design, communication.

Naval Group: It is a global industry in the field of defense systems and an industrial group specializing in naval defense. The group employs nearly 16,000 people in 18 countries with a turnover of € 3.3 billion by 2020.

Ιveco: Active in the design, production and sale of vehicles including military vehicles, trucks and buses. The group’s revenues in 2020 were 10.4 billion euros from 11.8 billion euros in 2019.

H L’Oreal is the largest group in the world in the field of cosmetics with a turnover of 32.28 billion euros in 2021 and net profits in the same year of 4.59 billion euros.

Club Thales with a presence in the fields of defense and aeronautics has a turnover of about 13 billion euros, employs 61,000 people and operates in 56 countries.

Safran Group: The turnover of the group active in aeronautics, defense equipment and the provision of equipment inside the aircraft was 15.25 billion euros in 2021.

Her business activity Sulo focuses on waste management and circular economy solutions.

H Louis Dreyfus Armateurs has been in business for more than 165 years in fields ranging from ship design to shipping in various fields: logistics and dry cargo transportation.

Vinci Concessions: Vinci is an international company engaged in concession, energy and construction projects, employing more than 260,000 people in approximately 120 countries. Designs, finances, builds and manages infrastructure and facilities that contribute to the improvement of daily life and transport. It is noted that its subsidiary, Vinci Autoroutes, is the leading operator of motorway concessions in France.

H RATP Development maintains fixed and long-distance urban and long-distance transport systems in 14 countries on four continents, carrying more than 1.5 billion passengers annually. The parent company, RATP, is the main carrier of people in Paris and the surrounding areas.

The group Setec with a presence in the construction and construction study had revenues of 374 million euros in 2021, of which 30% came from its activity outside France. It employs about 3,300 staff and has a presence in 20 countries.

Idemia: It has advanced authentication technologies, finding solutions in biometrics, cryptography, systems, data analysis and smart devices. Its turnover in 2021 amounted to 2.2 billion euros, while it employs about 15,000 employees.

THE Gican maintains activity in shipyards, in the construction of systems and equipment, in the construction, maintenance and implementation of military and civilian ships, as well as in the fields of maritime safety and marine renewable energy sources.

Sagemcom: Her areas of interest are energy management and telecommunications solutions.

H Saur is an international player in the field of water. It operates in 20 countries, including France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Poland, Cyprus, Greece, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Singapore. It has annual revenues of € 1.7 billion (2021) and 60 active patents for water-related innovations, employing 12,000 people. It has three sectors: water services, water engineering and industrial water solutions.