Do we love industry enough in France? Didier Bruère-Dawson takes stock of the issue and answered listener’s questions on BFM Business May 5

With nearly 3,100,000 employees working in industry sector, or 12% of the working population (20% if construction is included) and as many large dynamic groups as elsewhere, productivity per employee roughly equivalent to that of German employees, the industry sector seems to be doing well in France.

Since 2019, the country has even been the leading European destination for foreign investment.

However, the health crisis has reshuffled the cards and highlighted certain weaknesses in the French industry. France is indeed dependent on imports, often for a number of low value-added components, but not only (too few gigafactories to produce batteries, for example); all of which have contributed since 2004 to widening a trade deficit that is now a record in 2021.

The essential point is to rethink the supply and storage chains with legal and financial tools that often already exist, but also to develop and restructure the industrial ETIs, these companies with 250 to 5,000 employees that are half as numerous and supported as in Germany and whose strength lies in them. 

For the full interview on BFM Business, please follow this link.