Saint-Denis of Reunion (AFP)

On the second day of his trip to Reunion, Emmanuel Macron is expected on the issue of employment and expensive life, against a backdrop of the general strike Thursday and clashes the day before his arrival.

The head of state admitted from his arrival that the territory had last year "one of the most vigorous" movements of "yellow vests" against the cost of living and social inequalities, the result of "anger that expressed itself (...) on the difficulties of everyday life ".

"I will have very strong messages on agriculture and employment," assured the head of state, who will have two new opportunities to go to the contacts of the Reunionese on Thursday, after a first crowd on Wednesday at his arrival, with a few hundred people, under a torrential rain in the streets of Saint-Denis.

The president must meet jobseekers in a local mission in Saint-Paul (north-west).

As he promised when he arrived on Wednesday, the National Assembly voted in the evening an additional exemption of employer contributions of 35 million euros to promote employment.

In this territory of more than 850,000 inhabitants, 40% of the population lives below the poverty line, the unemployment rate reaches 24%, and even 42% among young people. Several mothers have also called on the subject on Wednesday.

As Armand, a resident of Saint-Denis, who believes that the head of state must see "seriously the problem of price, all prices among other products that we eat and all products in hypermarkets".

The cost of living for an average household budget Reunion is increased by 7.1% compared to the city, according to INSEE, while Reunion's median income is 30% lower at the national level (AFD, 2015).

- Photo burned -

Emmanuel Macron will also meet in the morning with participants in the new "citizen representations" set up after the "yellow vests" crisis, and in particular some that have been integrated in the Margin and Revenue Prices Observatory ( OPMR).

"If life is expensive, it is because we have not developed enough local production and because there are some in a way that have all taken for them, do not lie to us. And so whether it is transport, construction, food processing or distribution, I want us to redouble our efforts to fight against this scourge, "promised the head of state.

A call for a general strike was launched on Thursday by unions hoping to mobilize to denounce "the social situation". A rally is scheduled in the morning.

The movement could find a little echo, following clashes that took place between protesters and police, near the airport at the arrival of the head of state, with shots of tear gas on one side and stone throwing on the other. Protesters also burned a photo of the president. Anger against Emmanuel Macron relayed on social networks Wednesday night.

- "action plan" -

For his part, Emmanuel Macron, launched an "action plan" in the presence of fifty major French and foreign investors, during an economic forum "Choose the Meeting" ("Choose the Meeting"), intended to enhance the attractiveness of the territory and "re-register Reunion fully" in the Indo-Pacific regional area.

Several priorities: the development of physical and digital infrastructure, the protection of biodiversity or the construction of a sustainable fisheries sector.

"The president chose to draw a strategy for us, he should have implied in the medium-to-long term, and today it is the short term that is worrying, that is, the next three to four years. did not expect in his response speech but I hope that in his trip, he will respond more concretely, "said the mayor of St. Denis Gilbert Annette.

Emmanuel Macron will close Friday his trip by visiting a farm and a picnic with representatives of the local agricultural production sector in Petite-île (south).

© 2019 AFP