French Ambassador Discusses Innovation and Business at "French Week Miami"
On Thursday, November 1st, 2012, I had the great pleasure of meeting the French Ambassador to the United States, Francois Delattre. This meeting took place after a luncheon at the Conrad Hotel in Miami, where Ambassador Delattre gave a speech about France’s strategy for innovation and business, and how they are working to support and encourage technological and economic progress. This luncheon was part of “French Week Miami,” an annual event that, for its fifth anniversary, was extended to last for a full month, and was hosted by the French American Chamber of Commerce Florida.
In addition to the Mayor of Miami, top executives from a number of prominent French-American companies were present to hear the ambassador speak. They included representatives from Louis Vuitton, e-Medicis, Touax, and Van Cleef & Arpels, as well as a representative from the Principality of Monaco. The luncheon and the speech were excellent and afterward I had the chance to speak with Ambassador Delattre privately about those areas where France and the U.S. are cooperating on innovation, as well as France’s initiatives in Latin America.
Ambassador Delattre has had a long career in diplomatic service for France, having joined the French Foreign Ministry in 1989. His positions in the Western Hemisphere have included that of the Press and Communications Director at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. from 1998 through 2002; he was also Consul General in New York City from 2004 to 2008 and the French Ambassador to Canada from 2008 until 2011, when he was appointed to his current post.
According to Ambassador Delattre, the French government is putting great effort into encouraging education and innovation, both at the level of international and national business, and also at the level of education. France’s programs are scheduled on 3 to 5 year courses, promoting especially the areas of biotechnology, nanotechnology, research and development in general, and of course, the educational programs and institutions which produce experts in those fields, as well as all the businesses that make them profitable. The French government is giving huge tax rebates to companies, both domestic and foreign, that are producing innovations. Those rebates can be as large as 50% of a company’s entire R & D budget.
France is also developing and producing “innovation clusters,” where researchers in educational institutions, businesses and related organizations work with government encouragement and financial support to bring about the next generation of technological developments. The French government has taken the impressive step of consolidating all of their bureaucracies that deal with international business into one body, the Invest in France agency, to reduce red tape and make it easier for companies from other nations to do business in France.
Such incentives and programs can be very attractive to many companies that take part in international commerce and are technology ground-breakers, both because of the potential tax and financial incentives, and also for the creative people and resources available in the Innovation Clusters. Miami in particular is the hub for innovative American companies that do business with and in France, and France is eager to encourage them and others like them with these exciting programs.
In addition to their endeavors with the United States, France is eagerly pursuing closer business, education and technological ties to Latin America. Brazil, for example, has surpassed Germany as the world leader in biotechnology, and France is eager to share in and contribute to that prosperity. Also, France is making a point to avidly pursue industries with strong sustainability, in order to maintain a consistent economic strength far into the future.
The government of France is providing many advantages to those innovative technology companies that wish to do business with them. Ambassador Delattre is happy to bring that news to America, to business leaders, to academics, and to those students who will follow in their footsteps.