Paris has overtaken London as Europe’s most attractive destination for foreign investors, a new survey shows.
A report carried out by multinational finance company Ernst & Young survey shows that Paris was ranked number 1 for foreign direct investment by 37 per cent of businesses, based on a survey of 502 companies and data from EY and IBM covering 2017. It is the first time since Paris has ranked ahead of London since Ernst Young began collating such reports 15 years ago.
Berlin was ranked third in the survey while Frankfurt was fourth. “The UK is feeling the effect of Brexit,” the report said.
“Investment slowed after the 2008 financial crisis, but France is now in catch-up mode, and a beneficiary of Brexit,” it noted. The report also cited President Emmanuel Macron’s reforms to make France’s labour market more flexible as a reason behind Paris’s improved performance.
However, Britain as a whole remained Europe’s top destination for foreign direct investment in 2017, with 1,205 of the 6,653 new FDI projects in Europe, ahead of Germany’s 1,124 projects and France’s 1,019 projects.
But France’s number was up 31 per cent in one year, while the number of investment into Britain was only 6 per cent higher than in 2016, showing a slowdown in growth.
“After a year rich in changes following the presidential election in France, but also in Europe with the Brexit negotiations, and the new political landscape in Italy and Germany, France is recognised for its dynamism and its economic, political and regulatory stability,” said Pascal Cagni, France’s Ambassdor to International Investment.
Article published 11th June 2018