Paris (AFP)

The new Prime Minister Jean Castex, in full preparation with Emmanuel Macron of his future government, went on Saturday afternoon to the research and production site of semiconductors of the X-FAB France group in Essonne, a announced Matignon.

After a visit to the Elysée Palace to discuss with the Head of State the composition of the future government, Jean Castex went to Essonne for his first official outing as head of government, since his appointment the day before .

He was welcomed by several elected officials, to whom Jean Castex indicated to be "a man of the territories". The deputy Cédric Villani, also present, described as a "remarkable" choice of the Prime Minister this visit to "a high place of innovation".

Jean Castex explained to him that he wanted, for his first visit, "a business, innovation, industry, with both cyclical difficulty" because of the Covid and the crisis, "and structural "because of international competition. "This is a good example of what is before us," added the Prime Minister, who is preparing the recovery plan wanted by Emmanuel Macron.

"He came for the job," said an employee of the mayor of Coudray, Aurélie Gros. "The factory could have closed a few years ago, but it has managed to preserve jobs, in particular thanks to high-tech jobs," he added.

X-Fab presents itself as one of the world leaders in semiconductors, specialized "in semiconductor technologies with analog / mixed signals". The site is located in three municipalities: Corbeil-Essonnes, Le Coudray-Monceaux and Ormoy.

Its customers come from the automotive sector, industry, medicine and mobile communication.

At the end of 2016, it bought the French semi-conductor manufacturer in difficulty Altis Semiconductor.

X-FAB, a European company registered in Belgium and listed on Euronext in Paris, has around 3,900 employees and has a total of six production sites: three in Germany, one in France, one in Malaysia and one in the United States. Its production capacity is around 94,000 silicon wafers per month.

"The boss of the group was aware (of the visit) this morning only" but "it is a positive surprise, told AFP Thomas Hartung, chief marketing officer of the group, contacted by phone.

"The Corbeil-Essonnes plant is one of our largest facilities and we want to continue to develop the business," continued the chief marketing officer.

Its 2019 revenue was $ 506.4 million.

© 2020 AFP