Branding French Cities – Marie-Cécile Tardieu (Business France)
Closing address
Marie-Cécile Tardieu
Associate Managing Director Invest, Business France
France appears to be more and more attractive on a global level and is ranked first on industrial attractiveness. Kantar barometer shows that 87% of foreign company leaders find France highly attractive (+13 points compared with 2007).
French cities, especially Greater Paris benefit from this national trend. The brand Choose France enjoys a wide visibility today. It helps promoting French attractiveness and can be adapted by and for multiple territories. France has also launched sector brands such as the French Tech, French Fab, or French Healthcare, that have proven useful abroad.
“For a territory to build and spread its image, it must ensure social acceptability.
Getting to know the people for whom the city is leading these projects is essential.”
Marie-Cécile Tardieu
Associate Managing Director Invest,
Business France
Stormy weather, landlocked areas are features that cannot be changed. What we can change on the other hand is our way of promoting a territory by relying on key criteria that determine foreign investors’ choice of location: such as a skilled workforce or the quality of its facilities.
It is very interesting to witness actions led by operators to engage local people in development projects. The aim is both to foster the people’s pride in belonging to a territory and to lay out major infrastructure projects seen as inconvenient for the neighbourhood. For a territory to build and spread its image, it must ensure social acceptability. Getting to know the people for whom the city is leading these projects is essential.
