FILE PHOTO: French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he delivers a speech during a meeting with heads of Small and Medium Enterprises (PME), members of professional federations and local elected officials to launch of the new ETIncelles program to win the export battle, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, November 21, 2023. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool/File Photo
PARIS (Reuters) - This year's "Choose France" event - an annual summit aimed at attracting foreign investment to France - will result in 15 billion euros ($16.2 billion) worth of foreign investments, said the French presidency on Monday.
That amount represents an increase from last year's summit, which brought in 13 billion euros worth of foreign investments.
President Emmanuel Macron kicks off the event on Monday.
The summit is aimed at burnishing Paris' reputation as a leading European business centre as France - the euro zone's second-biggest economy - faces headwinds over its budget deficit and tepid first-quarter economic growth.
Paris has also traditionally lagged New York and London as a global financial hub, with the closely watched Z/Yen survey published in March ranking New York as the world's top financial centre, with London in second place.
The French presidency said this total of 15 billion euros worth of foreign investments came from 56 different business projects, with key sectors for investments including technology, artificial intelligence (AI) and finance.
Over the weekend, France said Amazon would announce a 1.2 billion euros investment at the event, while leading healthcare companies Pfizer and AstraZeneca also announced investments worth a total of nearly $1 billion.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire will also host meetings on Monday with the CEOs of JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, among others.
($1 = 0.9286 euros)
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Elizabeth Pineau; Editing by Alex Richardson)
