(Agence France-Presse Dunkirk, 12th) Northern France was originally a bit depressed, but global battery manufacturers are turning it into a 21st century manufacturing center and a key source of new energy technologies in Europe. Set up factories in this area.
ProLogium Technology is the latest company to announce its presence in the Hauts-de-France region, and will invest 5.2 billion euros (approximately NT$174.3 billion) to build a factory in Dunkirk. Many towns have struggled with recession for decades after their local steel and mining industries began to decline.
ACC, formed by automakers Stellantis, Mercedes and TotalEnergies of France, decided to set up a plant in Billy-Berclau; China and Envision, a Japanese partner, chose to invest in Douai, about 30 kilometers south of the big city of Lille; the French company Verkor also chose Dunkirk, which has a deep-sea port.
“It can be said that there is a developing battery ecosystem in northern France,” said Gilles Normand, executive vice president of development at ProLogium International, in a statement announcing the new plant today.
French President Emmanuel Macron made a personal trip to Dunkirk today, a chance to underscore his government’s efforts to return France to industrialisation. For decades, French jobs have been lost to China and other lower-cost countries.
The 45-year-old Macron was an investment banker with a pro-business stance. Since taking office in 2017, he has successively promoted tax cuts, relaxed labor laws and introduced investment incentives, hoping to reduce unemployment and attract business investment.
“I’m proud to say that in a job market where factories have been closing for decades, we’re reopening factories and industrializing them,” he said during a visit to an aluminum factory.
He also announced that French nuclear energy company Orano and Chinese lithium battery manufacturer XTC will invest a new 1.5 billion euros (approximately NT$50.6 billion) in Dunkirk to produce cathode parts for lithium batteries.
According to information provided by Macron’s office, over the past 40 years, France has lost an average of 50,000 industrial jobs every year.
The Haute-France region was once a major industrial center in France and one of the main producers of fabrics, coal, steel and automobiles. Even as factories closed, car manufacturing survived; the region is now France’s biggest source of cars, according to Nord France Invest.
At present, there are 7 automakers setting up factories in the Haute-France region, including Toyota, Renault and Strandis, and there is also a dense network of component suppliers. This is why battery manufacturers are actively One of the main reasons for setting up a stronghold nearby.
French “Le Monde” (Le Monde) reported that Xavier Bertrand, chairman of the Haute-France regional council, said: “This is a strategy to build an integrated industry. We are in a transitional 10 years.” Haute-France The unemployment rate in the United States has fallen sharply in recent years, and was 8.7% in the last quarter of 2022, but it is still higher than the national average of 7%.
This has always been the region with the highest poverty rate in France. According to the 2018 data from the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Research (INSEE), 18% of the local population lives below the poverty line.
2023-05-13 05:35:33
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