Macron urges business leaders to 'Choose France'

PARIS

French President Emmanuel Macron presided on Monday over the third installment of an investment summit in Versailles.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and 19 other members of the French government were also present at the third Choose France summit.

Approximately 200 heads of foreign and French companies are expected to attend. More than 400 bilateral meetings are on the agenda of the summit, coming after announcements of new contracts and investments in France totaling nearly €4 billion ($4.4 billion).

A statement from the Elysee Palace hailed what it said were opportunities in a variety of industries, from digital to culinary to health. Notable corporations participating in the event are EY, ING Bank, Coca-Cola, Fedex, Hyundai Motors, Google, Rolls Royce, Netflix, Samsung, Toyota, Cooper Pharma, and Snap Inc., the parent company of SnapChat.

The timing is significant in light of the World Economic Forum to be held in Davos, Switzerland, which starts tomorrow.

One significant contract was inked between Italian-Swiss maritime carrier MSC Cruises and shipyard Chantiers de l'Atlantique, in an order for at least €2 billion of recreational watercraft. The vessels -- which hold 6,700 passengers each -- will be built in Saint-Nazaire, in Loire-Atlantique on the Bay of Biscay coast 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Nantes.

The contract was signed this morning at the Hotel de Matignon in the presence of the prime minister.

In an official statement from the prime minister's office, the construction of the new vessels is estimated to generate 14 million hours of work, corresponding to 2,400 jobs over a period of three and a half years.