Paris (AFP)

President Emmanuel Macron unveiled on Tuesday an investment plan of 30 billion euros over five years to develop industrial competitiveness and future technologies in France.

Update on the sectors that will benefit from these investments.

Nuclear and green hydrogen

Emmanuel Macron wants a total of 8 billion euros to be invested in energy.

Of this sum, one billion euros will be aimed at developing "breakthrough technologies" in the nuclear field.

For the president, "the number one objective" is to bring out small-scale nuclear reactors and to better manage nuclear waste.

The small modular reactors, known as SMR ("small modular reactors"), are "much more modular and much safer", he argued, at a time when the future of EPR, large reactors of new generation, is pending.

Electric vehicles and low carbon aircraft

France will invest 4 billion euros to develop new means of transport.

The president wants in particular "to produce in France by 2030 nearly 2 million electric and hybrid vehicles".

To achieve this objective, it will take "a real cooperative strategy, in particular of our large manufacturers", he estimated.

France will also "invest massively to enable the first low-carbon aircraft to be deployed by 2030", a first French project but the objective is to "Europeanize it as much as possible".

Agriculture

Emmanuel Macron wants to invest 2 billion euros in "disruptive" innovations in agriculture, in particular in robotics, digital technology and genetics.

The objective is to "continue to produce to feed us", improving the "quality of food" and "competitiveness", while "reducing CO2 emissions".

Emmanuel Macron during the presentation of the "France 2030" investment plan at the Elysee Palace, October 12, 2021 Ludovic MARIN POOL / AFP

More precisely, these investments should make it possible to "decarbonize" agricultural production, "to get out of certain pesticides", "to improve productivity" and to develop "more resilient and more solid productions in bio-solutions".

Biomedicines

France will also devote 3 billion euros to the health sector.

The country must set itself the goal of having by 2030 "at least 20 biomedicines against cancer, emerging diseases and chronic diseases including those related to age," said the president.

It must also create the "medical devices of tomorrow".

Biomedicines include a wide variety of therapies (products for cell therapy, gene therapy, hormones).

They are produced from life, unlike more traditional chemically produced drugs, which makes their production more complex and more expensive.

Electronic components

Emmanuel Macron announced "nearly 6 billion euros" of investments to "double" the electronic production of France by 2030 and "secure" its supply of chips.

During the broadcast of a short film retracing the great moments of French industrial innovation, before the presentation of the "France 2030" investment plan, at the Elysee Palace, October 12, 2021 Ludovic MARIN POOL / AFP

Global demand for electronic components has exploded since the start of the pandemic, between the rise of telecommuting and home entertainment.

"We want to be able to double our electronics production by 2030 and build a roadmap towards smaller microchips to remain a leader in the field," he said.

Indispensable in everyday objects such as household appliances or mobile phones, semiconductors are in short supply worldwide and Europe is increasingly dependent on Chinese or American imports in this strategic market.

Recycling

The president also set the objective of "investing in recycling" to "reduce our dependence".

In particular, he wants to "bring out a French player in enzymatic chemical recycling".

The Head of State also wants to accelerate in France "the recycling of rare earths" necessary for the energy transition and for the manufacture of batteries.

© 2021 AFP