Winning over German companies at Hannover Messe

Presenting the industrial platforms in the west of the region as a comprehensive, unified offer

The recently published results of Business France 2015 showed that Germany is the second largest foreign investor in France and Provence Promotion is leveraging this trend by focusing its canvassing missions on German investors. The country has already been a priority target for the economic development agency for two years. This year Provence Promotion plans to expand its network by attending the Hannover Messe as an exhibitor. For the first time, there will be a comprehensive, unified offer featuring the industrial platforms in the western Bouches-du-Rhône region comprising four specific areas: Piicto, Lavera, La Mède and Bonnet LyondellBasell. In fact, Provence Promotion will be co-exhibiting with the industrial firm LyondellBasell from April 25 to 29, 2016, in the France Pavilion - Hall 13, space E16. The objective is to publicize the capacities of these platforms to host new businesses in an economic sector that is backed by major investments and focused on eco-industry. This commitment is shared by the entire region, along with its local governments, businesses and research organizations which have teamed up to create a cluster environment that lends itself to innovative industrial technologies to foster better management of energy resources and to be more competitive at the international level.

In the Provence-Alpes-Côtes d'Azur-Provence region, industry plays a major role with high concentrations of industrial corporations, especially around Etang de Berre. This industrial breeding ground in the west of the Bouches-du-Rhône department has set its sights on growing and directing its strategy toward eco-industry. Public and private sector stakeholders have been particularly active in the last two years in their efforts to transform the industrial sector while addressing environmental issues. In 2014, the Caban-Tonkin Industrial and Innovation Platform (PIICTO) was founded. It recently commissioned the Jupiter 1000 demonstrator to test the "Power to Gas" pre-industrial-scale technology that will be able to store energy surpluses. The amount of industrial investments in Etang de Berre totals more than EUR 840 million*.

These private funds are reinforced by a complementary public investment policy. In the industrial port area, which is home to the new INNOVEX innovation platform built to host demonstrators and pre-pilot industrial projects, the Port of Marseille-Fos and the West Provence regional authority have, for example, jointly committed to spend €27 million on steam and gas networks. This quest for synergies is the tip of the spear of an industrial revival in the region, which Provence Promotion has every intention to promote at Hannover Messe from April 25 to 29, 2016.

An appealing industrial dynamic for new investors

In the future, energy efficiency in industrial fields and the establishment of a circular economy will carry indisputable advantages - not just environmental, but competitive as well. The current evolution of the industrial fabric in Provence is an appeal factor and Germany, a country at the forefront of industry, is a potential source of new investors. For its first appearance at Hannover Messe, which will open on April 24 with an official ceremony attended by Barack Obama and Angela Merkel, Provence Promotion chose to be an exhibitor. The agency is partnering with LyondellBasell to showcase the revitalization of the region. With the support of the CAFAP ("Franco-German Business Club of Provence"), its priority will be to meet with people who lead networks like technological clusters and German industrial federations.

The Hanover Fair is the world's biggest industrial trade show (220,000 attendees in 2015). It offers maximum exposure to German companies, but nearly 300 foreign companies from Great Britain, Italy, the Benelux countries and North America were also contacted. Targeted fields include the plastics industry and heavy industry (steel, metallurgy, etc.), as well as biorefining, green chemistry and the energy sector. Scheduled appointments will enable executives and senior officials to learn about the structuring projects implemented in the region, including Team Henri Fabre. This group of public and private actors in innovation and research are combining their expertise, their resources and their skills to structure a network and an offer in the aeronautics, energy, medical and naval segments. Their work is driven by the Henri-Fabre Technocenter, which is devoted to serving industrial companies and SMBs so they can pool resources, transfer technology and share knowledge. Thus an array of equipment and facilities are being organized throughout the Aix-Marseille metropolis area to trigger the emergence of disruptive technologies. This R&D positioning will, of course, be highlighted by Provence Promotion at its B2B event in Hanover.

*€200 million for Total to convert its plant to a biorefinery, €200 million for LyondellBasell to modernize its industrial apparatus, €150 million for Ineos to replace its oil-fired steam generators with cleaner gas generators, €150 million for Kem One to replace its energy-intensive electrolysis unit and €90 million for Esso to invest in its refinery at Fos-sur-Mer.