NEW YORK CITY (dpa-AFX) - Major companies, including Amazon.com Inc.,
Microsoft Corp., Morgan Stanley, Pfizer and others, have announced around 15
billion euros or $16.2 billion worth foreign investments in France as part of
the country's annual 'Choose France' business summit, reports said.

French President Emmanuel Macron kicks off the summit of 180 CEOs and executives
on Monday, aiming to showcase foreign investment, as part of the Government's
efforts to re-industrialize the country.

In a statement, Amazon said it plans to invest more than 1.2 billion euros or
$1.3 billion in its French operations, which is expected to create more than
3,000 permanent jobs in the country.

Further, tech and software giant Microsoft plans to invest 4 billion euros or
$4.3 billion in France, mainly to focus on the artificial intelligence or AI
sector.

Healthcare companies Pfizer and AstraZeneca also announced investments worth a
total of nearly $1 billion. Other companies, including GSK and Accenture are
expected to announce investments as part of the event.

GSK would announce new investments while Accenture would announce plans to set
up new jobs in the artificial intelligence sector.

Morgan Stanley would open a new office in the country, its new European campus,
which is expected to create 100 more jobs in Paris.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire reportedly will also host meetings with
the CEOs of JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, among
others.

At last year's summit, around 13 billion euros worth of foreign investments were
announced by the country.

Under Amazon's planned investment, Amazon Web Services is expected to increase
cloud infrastructure in the Paris area to support France's generative AI
opportunity, and logistics infrastructure to increase speed of delivery and
reduce carbon emissions. Frederic Duval, country manager at Amazon France said
the latest jobs are in addition to the 2,000 jobs the firm announced for 2024.
Since 2010, Amazon has invested more than 20 billion euros in its French
operations.

Microsoft's planned 4 billion euros or $4.3 billion investment in France would
mainly focus on the artificial intelligence or AI sector. According to its vice
chair and president Brad Smith, the company would set up a data centre in the
French city of Mulhouse.

Further, drug major Pfizer would invest 500 million euros or $538.5 million in
France to build up its research and development work, while AstraZeneca would
invest $388 million for its site at Dunkirk.

Le Maire reportedly said, 'New industries and the new economy need massive
amounts of capital. We urgently need to take concrete steps to get the capital
markets union going. . Europe needs money. If not, it will continue to lose out
in terms of productivity to the United States and China.'



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