By Mauro Orru


France bagged 15 billion euros ($16.16 billion) of investment commitments from U.S. tech giants and other companies at a summit just outside of Paris, underscoring a push from President Emmanuel Macron to promote the country as an attractive destination for international investors.

Microsoft, Amazon.com, Pfizer and AstraZeneca were among the top investors at the Choose France summit held at the Palace of Versailles. Dubbed France's mini Davos, the event draws high-profile executives willing to pour funds into the French economy.

Macron launched the summit in 2018 during his first term as president in an effort to portray France as an attractive hub for foreign investors. In a post on X, he said this year's summit would bring in a record EUR15 billion in investments and create 10,000 new jobs.

Paris has long lagged behind major financial centers like New York, but the amount in investment commitments marks an endorsement of France as a key hub for many foreign investors in Europe.

The country ranks as the most attractive in Europe for international investors, according to a recent EY survey, putting it ahead of Germany and the U.K. The survey concluded that most respondents, particularly those outside of or not yet established in France, believe the country will become more attractive over the next three years.

On Monday, Microsoft President Brad Smith said the tech giant would invest EUR4 billion to build out artificial-intelligence, data-center and cloud infrastructure in the country.

Russ Grandinetti, senior vice president of international stores at Amazon, said the e-commerce giant would invest more than EUR1.2 billion to bolster its Amazon Web Services cloud infrastructure, logistics infrastructure and artificial intelligence.

JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Accenture and the Qatar Investment Authority also made a number of investment commitments.

On the pharmaceutical front, Pfizer France President Reda Guiha said the country had developed a solid biopharmaceutical ecosystem that was benefiting innovation in fields like oncology. The maker of the Covid-19 vaccine is investing EUR500 million as part of a five-year plan to strengthen research and development.

Meanwhile, rival AstraZeneca said it would pour $388 million to further develop its production site in Dunkirk, northern France. Sanofi, the French pharma group, will spend more than EUR1 billion on ramping up production capability.


Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-13-24 0955ET