Direct investments flows between France and Great Britain

Résumé du document

"We believe that working together, France and Britain can be an even greater force for good in the world of tomorrow and so, if you like, this will be an entente formidable as well?. -Gordon Brown, UK Prime Minister. This quotation illustrates the desire that France and Great Britain have, for working together and being stronger, thanks to each other. Great Britain is an essential partner to France in the field of trade and investments. In 2006, France's exports and imports reached 30.7 billion and 22.4 billion respectively. The position of first bilateral surplus for France was maintained in 2006. This thesis will illustrate the direct investments between these two countries that all gather. More particularly, we will focus on the elements that influence the flow of the investments. Why did I choose France and Great Britain? The reason is that they are the two most attractive countries in terms of foreign investments in Europe and the two main destinations for it. About investments, Britain is the 3rd destination of the French investments abroad with 1,500 subsidiaries and 250,000 employees.

Extraits

[...] And thus the attractiveness of the national territory for the foreign direct investments became a new imperative of the economic policies of States - not only industrial policies. It constitutes an adaptation to the new rules of the game generated by the globalization process. Then, attractiveness thus became an answer to the new rules of the game introduced by the globalization, as the imperative of the competitiveness of the 60s constituted the answer to the multinationalization. It is also necessary to insist on another thorough transformation: with the globalization, firms put henceforth the national territories in competition between themselves, while in the multinationalization, it was the States which selected "good" investment projects proposed by the firms. [...]

[...] Portée pratique La pluralité des administrations compétentes entraîne un risque de confusion pour le dépôt du dossier. En pratique, les principales catégories de personnes concernées par l'immigration économique ont l'obligation d'effectuer leurs premières démarches : - à l'ambassade du lieu de leur résidence habituelle pour les futurs commerçants résidents français ; - à l'Agence nationale d'accueil des étrangers et des migrations (ANAEM) pour les futurs salariés étrangers d'entreprises françaises faisant l'objet d'une mobilité intra-groupe et ayant une rémunération supérieure à 5.000 euros bruts ; - à la direction départementale du travail, de l'emploi et de la formation professionnelle (DDTEFP) compétente pour les autres salariés et les détachés. [...]

[...] Three decisive arguments The market The talent The infrastructure More precisely: France is a major market in the world economy With GDP of 2,584 billion dollars in 2007, France is ranked as the 5th largest world economy. France is a competitive nation, ranking: 5th for export of goods and services. 3rd for collection of foreign direct investments. France is Europe's second-leading market behind Germany, with a population of 63.4 million people that have an important purchasing power, which is increasing for several years: France had a GDP growth rate of in 2007. France had 82 million tourists in 2007, making France the main tourist destination around the world. [...]

[...] Indeed, it is a key to be globally competitive, because it is a concentration of the foreigners' demand. Now that we have seen the importance of competitiveness in the direct investments flows, let's focus on the attractive sectors and its role. Indeed, competitiveness is not the only important element that makes evolve direct investments flows. Attractiveness has a key role as well. III/ The most attractive sectors Direct investments head toward different sectors in both countries according attractiveness of these one. [...]

[...] This operation can consist in creating a completely new company (investment of creation) or, more generally, in modifying the status of property of the existing companies (with mergers and acquisitions). “Other types of financial transactions between similar companies are also defined as foreign direct investment, in particular reinvestment of the profits of the company having obtained the FDI, or capital transfers". These last ones include in particular the loans granted by a parent company to its subsidiary implanted abroad.” About investments, Britain is the 3rd destination of the French investments abroad with 1.500 subsidiaries and 250.000 employees. [...]