Opening Speech of
Mr Jean-Marc Ayrault
French Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development
at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit
Tuesday, 10 January 2017

Prime Minister, (Narendra Modi),
Minister of Finance, (Arun Jaitley),
Chief Minister of Gujarat, (Vijay Rupani)
Ministers, elected officials, business leaders and policymakers,
Dear friends,

It is a true pleasure for me and the French delegation to be with you here today at Vibrant Gujarat. France is a partner country this year to affirm its confidence in India. We share so many values, a vision of the world and a strategic partnership in every area.
Prime Minister Modi, France stands by your side and supports your programmes that are drivers of sustainable growth for India: Make in India, Skill India, Clean India, Digital India and Smart cities. Each of these programmes meets a major challenge facing your country. France has experience and technology in these areas and we want stronger cooperation with India in all these sectors, and beyond – from agriculture and food to industry and services, from science to culture, from higher education and research to defence.

I have come to Ahmedabad with a large delegation of French companies representing all of these sectors. They have confidence in your country’s path towards growth and development.

Some of these companies are global leaders. They include France’s national electric utility company, EDF, our national railway company, SNCF, and one of our leading consulting corporations, Capgemini. Their CEOs are here with us today. They have chosen to invest in India, to manufacture here, to export from here, to train their workers, technicians and engineers here and to innovate here.

There are more than 400 French companies in India, employing several hundreds of thousands of people and investing more than one billion euros every year. France is one of the three leading foreign direct investors in India. This includes Gujarat. I am thinking of SNF Floerger, the second biggest chemical company in France, specialized in wastewater treatment and oil recovery. I’m thinking of Laboratoires Gilbert, in the pharmaceutical industry. I’m also thinking of the CMA-CGM Group, which has built a container terminal in the Port of Mundra.

French companies are helping to drive your economy and we have some wonderful success stories. One of them is Renault, the leading foreign car manufacturer on the Indian market with Kwid, developed in India and manufactured in Chennai. Everyone will have the opportunity to discover it here today. I could also mention Décathlon, the French sporting goods retailer, which has opened nearly 50 stores all over India. The French start-up, BlaBlaCar, with its carpooling application, is growing rapidly on the Indian market.

The Indian economy is also full of promise when it comes to renewable energies. India had a large hand in the success of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. I commend your goal to achieve an electricity mix made up of 40% non-fossil fuels by 2030. French technologies, developed by EDF and other smaller companies can contribute to this.

But India is also a global economic actor and its industries have ambitions throughout the world. France is the leading destination in Europe for foreign investment in industry. France will continue to provide sustainable access to the world’s largest global market, the European Union. Several Indian companies have already made this choice. I am thinking of the recent example of Mahindra, which has acquired a majority stake in Peugeot Scooters. France is open to all Indian investments.

On this opening day of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, allow me to celebrate with you the economic partnership between India and France. It will be even stronger by the end of the day, in the interest of our two countries. Thank you for your attention.