Foreign Investment: Attraction and Anxiety

France maintains complex relationships with foreign capital:

Investment Attraction

France successfully attracts investment: - €35 billion FDI annually - 13,000 foreign-owned companies - 2 million jobs in foreign firms - Paris as European hub post-Brexit - Manufacturing investments significant

Success Factors: - Skilled workforce and infrastructure - Central location in Europe - Quality of life for executives - Government incentives - Research tax credits

Major Investments: - Google's Paris AI center - Netflix's European production hub - Toyota's Valenciennes plant - Microsoft's Station F presence - Chinese battery factories

Sovereignty Concerns

Foreign ownership raises anxieties:

Strategic Sectors: - Energy (attempted GE-Alstom controversy) - Defense (Naval Group submarine tensions) - Technology (Huawei 5G exclusion) - Food (Danone vulnerability debates) - Infrastructure (airport privatization resistance)

Policy Responses: - Foreign investment screening expanded - Golden shares in strategic companies - "Economic patriotism" rhetoric - European coordination sought - Balance with openness needed

Khadija Al-Rashid, our perfumer, sees both sides:

"Our workshop was bought by an American group. They provide capital and distribution, but I worried about losing our artisanal methods. So far, they've preserved our independence while opening global markets. Not all foreign investment is predatory."