Emmanuel Macron in Chartres on Thursday to announce a “significant” investment from Danish Novo Nordisk

Emmanuel Macron will announce next Thursday a “major” investment on the site of the Danish pharmaceutical group Novo Nordisk in Chartres (Eure-et-Loire), AFP learned this Friday from consistent sources.

The Head of State will also unveil a support program, which will initially concern around a hundred fast-growing SMEs for one year. If inflation "comes back under control", the "reindustrialization policy has begun", "one indicator remains problematic", the balance of trade, conceded the Élysée, which said it was determined to engage in the "battle" in the material. France has in fact not experienced a trade surplus for the exchange of goods since 2002 and the deficit stood at 54 billion euros over the first half of 2023. French small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular remain largely less exporting than their European neighbors. They represent 2% of the value of national exports, compared to 9% in Germany and 54% in Italy, recalled the presidency. The State will therefore facilitate their access to its services with a one-stop shop and greater integration in official delegations abroad, as during Emmanuel Macron's recent trip to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in October.

Concerning the site of the Danish group, the Élysée reported an “important announcement, even very important in terms of attractiveness” from the Head of State during a trip on Thursday “to an industrial site”, thus suggesting new foreign investment. This is the Novo Nordisk production site in Chartres, specializing in the production of insulin cartridges and vials, a source close to the Danish laboratory told AFP. Novo Nordisk already announced in January an investment of 130 million euros on this site, which has around 1,450 employees and whose production it intends to diversify into therapeutic areas other than diabetes.

The president will also make an “important announcement, even very important in terms of attractiveness”, during a trip on Thursday to an industrial site, added the Élysée, thus suggesting that it would be an investment foreign, without further details. The Minister for Foreign Trade and Attractiveness Olivier Becht hinted at the beginning of November of upcoming announcements relating to “several billion euros” of foreign investments in France, particularly in the field of health.

The Head of State will also take stock on Wednesday with the 50 industrial sites that emit the most greenhouse gases in France on their decarbonization objectives. Together, these companies represent 11% of France's emissions, and nearly 60% of industrial emissions. The Head of State proposed in November 2022 to halve their emissions by 2030 through a significant increase in public aid in this area.

Emmanuel Macron, keen to remain present on all fronts in a political context that is often delicate for his camp in the absence of an absolute majority in the Assembly, is regularly on the offensive on economic issues. In May, he announced huge foreign investments in batteries for a total of 6.7 billion euros, representing 4,700 jobs, in Dunkirk in the north of France.