Paris (AFP)

The attractiveness of France to foreign investors continues to improve despite doubts raised in some headquarters of foreign multinationals by the movement of "yellow vests" said Wednesday some of their representatives in France.

Due to the social crisis that began a year ago, nearly four out of ten foreign companies (39%) present in France have reconsidered their development projects in France, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of Business France, the agency promoting the Hexagon abroad. And 44% find that the image of France has deteriorated over the last 12 months, against 33% who find that it has improved, according to their 200 or so representatives on French soil.

However, the image of France in the global headquarters, which had greatly appreciated since the election of Emmanuel Macron in 2017, remains as good (86%), and 81% of companies surveyed say they want to invest in the coming years.

The leaders in France also consider almost entirely (98%, against 95% last year) that the reforms initiated by the government since May 2017 "go rather in the right direction", according to this survey published the day before of the "States of France".

Their 14th edition Thursday at the Sorbonne University is to bring together 800 managers and is under the sign of the commitment of foreign companies for the inclusion of young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods.

One year after the beginning of the "yellow vests" movement, the heads of foreign group subsidiaries consider the way in which it has been managed by the government and the measures to end the crisis to be mostly positive.

- "Wall of French bashing" -

"This management has made it possible to find political support without which it is very difficult to reform, that is what foreign investors are watching," Business France director Christophe Lecourtier told AFP.

Structural reforms such as the civil service or unemployment insurance have not been called into question following this move, he recalls.

Faced with the possibility of a new peak of social discontent with the strike announced on December 5 against the pension reform, "we are mainly trying to find out if it can impact our market, the rules of the game in which we play, the laws and government decisions, and our employees, "said Claude Alver, vice president for Europe of the American Collins Aerospace.

The president of Business France, Pascal Cagni, for his part, emphasized the importance of foreign companies present in France who "take part in more than 25% of the R & D effort, and more than 33% in our export effort ".

The rating of France has improved enormously, according to Mr. Cagni, who finds "we have a competitive field that helps us" with the weakening of the German economy. According to him, however, "we still have a wall of French bashing against us".

For potential investors, "there remains resistance more psychological than technical", abounds Eric Fourel, President for France consulting firm EY. "At the administrative level, it is still perceived as a country pinaille," he said.

On the merits, France improves its attractiveness with a rise in unit labor costs limited to 0.9%, against 2.3% in the United Kingdom and 2.6% in Germany.

"This result is explained by a stronger growth in hourly labor productivity in France (+ 1.5%) than in the United Kingdom (+ 0.5%) or in Germany (0%) and lower rise in labor costs ", according to France's Attractiveness Scoreboard published by Business France.

© 2019 AFP