Paris (AFP)
Emmanuel Macron announced Tuesday at the Elysee Palace a five-year investment plan of 30 billion euros aimed at developing industrial competitiveness and future technologies to "increase the capacity of the French economy to grow through innovation".
"The strategy for 2030 must lead us to invest 30 billion euros to respond" to what can be considered as "a kind of French growth deficit", estimated Mr. Macron in front of some 200 business and business leaders. students.
According to the Elysee, these investments as part of a "France 2030" plan cover the next five years.
Calling for "a massive investment in our innovation and industrialization strategy", Emmanuel Macron wanted France "to find a virtuous cycle: innovate, produce, export, and thus finance (its) social model" and "make it sustainable. ", he added.
"Because we have taken decisions sometimes 15 to 20 years after some of our European neighbors, we will not catch up" and "if we stay at this rate, we will fall behind in the next 10 or 15 years", he added.
"We must increase the capacity of the French economy to grow through innovation", in particular to continue to "finance our social model", he added.
The Head of State thus said he wanted to invest one billion euros in nuclear energy by 2030 to develop "disruptive technologies".
"The number one objective is to have innovative small-scale nuclear reactors emerge in France by 2030 with better waste management".
France must also consider the construction of "two gigafactories or electrolysers" to become "leader of green hydrogen" in 2030, which will allow the "decarbonization of the industry", he added.
We must "invest massively to help decarbonize" the industry, said the head of state.
He notably cited the steel, cement and chemical production sectors which need green hydrogen to replace fossil fuels, as well as "supplying trucks, buses, trains and planes".
The president also announced the objective of "producing in France by 2030 nearly 2 million electric and hybrid vehicles".
Recalling that "the last 30 years have been cruel for the French automobile industry", the Head of State deemed this objective "attainable" if "there is a real cooperative strategy, in particular from our large manufacturers".
Faced with an "extraordinary acceleration of the world of innovation and disruption", he stressed the need to be present at the right time on "innovation that can change everything", because at that time, either "you are inside ”or“ you are outside ”.
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