Amazon on Monday, May 13, announced plans to invest more than 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in its operations in France.
Moreover, the mentioned e-commerce giant, whose ownership structure includes the best American delivery service, will create more than 3,000 permanent jobs in the specified country.
Last Sunday, May 12, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that Amazon and other companies, including GSK and Accenture, will announce billions of dollars in investments in the country.
The Choose France summit kicked off on Monday. This event is a reflection of the desire of the leadership of the mentioned country to gain foreign business and become a financial hub.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) investments are expected to expand cloud infrastructure in the Paris area. The company’s statement notes that this funding will support the flourishing artificial intelligence capabilities in France. Moreover, the investment will have a positive impact on the logistics infrastructure in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Currently, there is an increasing demand for cloud services at the global level. This tendency is largely due to the popularity of generative artificial intelligence technologies, which are on a steady upward trajectory. France may become one of the beneficiaries of the mentioned dynamic. The potential of this country in the artificial intelligence industry is significant. This position of Paris in terms of the prospects of the foreseeable future is facilitated by local startups of the appropriate functional orientation, including Mistral AI and Poolside. Moreover, technology giants such as Meta and Google have built artificial intelligence research centers in France.
Since 2010, Amazon has invested more than 20 billion euros in its French business. Also since the mentioned year, the e-commerce giant hired more than 22,000 permanent employees in its cloud and online businesses.
Frédéric Duval, regional manager of Amazon France, said that the more than 3,000 jobs announced on Monday in this country are in addition to the 2,000 vacancies that were originally planned for the current year.
Part of the investment intended for the French logistics infrastructure of the e-commerce giant will increase the speed of delivery. These financial injections will also contribute to reducing carbon emissions. The e-commerce giant currently has more than 35 logistics facilities in France.
It is worth noting that Amazon announced financial injections worth more than 1.2 billion euros less than two weeks after accounting and consulting firm Ernst & Young (EY) stated that France is the most attractive for foreign investors among other European countries. The corresponding statement is confirmed by specific data. EY has published information according to which 1,194 projects from abroad were funded in France last year. This indicator exceeds the figures recorded in the United Kingdom and Germany.
At the same time, investors are very cautious about the prospects of financial injections into France due to the growing public deficit. According to official statistics, last year the country significantly exceeded the deficit target of 4.9% of gross domestic product (GDP), reaching 5.5%.
Amid concerns about balancing the books, the credit rating agency Fitch last year downgraded France’s credit rating to AA-.
EY, stating about the favorable investment climate in the mentioned country, noted that in the coming years, competitors may begin to make progress in the appropriate direction. In this context, the experts of the company underlined that France has become the beneficiary of the consequences of Brexit and the economic difficulties faced by Germany, but in the future, it is not necessary to rely on these circumstances.
