The Choose France Summit, the must-attend annual meeting dedicated to the attractiveness of France, brought together over 200 business leaders, industrialists and investors from all over the world on May 19 at the Château de Versailles. With a total of more than 50 projects to set up in France, representing 40 billion euros of investment, particularly in the field of AI, this 8th edition reached an exceptional and unprecedented level.

Since its launch in January 2018, the Choose France Summit, initiated by the President of the Republic, has confirmed a success that is growing year on year. The 8th edition of the Summit, placed this year under the theme "France, land of creativity", echoed, according to the Presidency website "all the major events that took place during the year, from the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games to the reopening of Notre-Dame, which made France shine around the world". She also paid tribute to French savoir-faire and, in particular, to French expertise in the organization of major international events, such as the Artificial Intelligence Summit last February and, next June, the organization by France and Costa Rica of the Third United Nations Conference on the Oceans.

The latest edition of the Choose France Summit attracted over 400 foreign participants of 46 different nationalities. The aim was to make it "a privileged moment of exchange around the economic attractiveness of France", thanks to "ad hoc meeting formats" between foreign investors, the French executive and companies. These privileged moments took the form of bilateral talks with ministers and administrations, meetings with "the main players in France's business environment", as well as thematic workshops focusing on France's major economic transformations.

More precisely, this year, almost 400 bilateral meetings were organized between the President of the Republic, ministers and the heads of foreign (and French) companies to discuss their plans for setting up in France. According to the President's website, the purpose of the Choose France Summit is to "present, detail and explain to major international companies the reforms implemented in France to promote economic activity". It also serves to "highlight the importance of international investment in supporting growth, innovation and employment throughout France".

The number of announcements grows with each edition. Since the first Choose France Summit, held in 2018, 178 announcements have been recorded, representing 46.9 billion euros of investment. This year, with a total of 53 announcements representing €40.8 billion of investment, the Choose France Summit is reaching an unprecedented level. According to the Presidency, this high number of project announcements "confirms foreign investors' confidence in the French economy, despite the troubled international context". It is estimated that over 13,000 direct and indirect jobs could be created as a result of these projects.

Business France, the state-owned consultancy serving the internationalization of the French economy, is responsible for assisting investors at "every stage of their project, from sourcing to completion".

At Versailles, foreign companies confirmed their desire to set up major projects in France in a variety of fields. Artificial intelligence was high on the agenda. The AI Action Summit of February 2025 highlighted "France's attractiveness for major infrastructure projects for the development of artificial intelligence, in particular through the establishment of data centers".

Four "major investments", as the Ministry of the Economy puts it, have been announced, including the following projects:

• Brookfield : €10 billion investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure in France, with 4,000 direct and indirect jobs at a pilot site in Cambrai (59);
• MGX with Bpifrance, Mistral and NVidia : €8.5 billion investment in Ile-de-France for an open AI campus combining data centers, high-performance computing, higher education and research;
• Prologis: 6.4 billion euros of investment for 3,400 jobs in digital infrastructures, with four major data center projects in the Paris region;
• Digital Reality : 2.3 billion euros of investment, 750 jobs in two data center projects in Marseille (13) and Dugny (93).

Other investment projects are also noteworthy in other fields in which France excels:

• strategic sectors (rare metals, nuclear, defense, electronics and semi-conductors);
• ecological transition, with new investments in decarbonization and the circular economy;
• consumer goods and agri-food;
• cultural and creative industries ;
• transforming mobility ;
• health, wellness and fashion ;
• financial and real estate investments.

All these projects confirm "France's influence and its ability to host world-class projects". This attractiveness is confirmed by the fact that, for the sixth year running, France has been ranked as the most attractive country in Europe for international investors in 2024, according to the EY barometer published on May 15, as the French government website points out.

• The 8th Choose France summit on the French Presidency website
• The 8th Choose France summit on the government website
• The 8th Choose France summit on the Ministry of the Economy website