French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday held a virtual meeting with more than 80 international CEOs from all sectors in order to promote France’s recovery plan ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
In his opening remarks, Macron said the plan has “three key objectives: speeding up the economy, increasing French competitiveness, and developing skills to reduce unemployment”.
Facing resurgent virus infections, France’s government unveiled a 100 billion-euro recovery scheme in September aimed at creating jobs, saving struggling businesses and yanking the country out of its worst economic slump since World War II.
The massive plan includes money to bring back manufacturing of medical supplies to French factories, develop hydrogen energy, help museums and the cinema industry, train young people for 21st century jobs and hire more staff at unemployment offices.
Macron added that “in such a context, Europe has to be much more sovereign in a certain way. It has to re-increase its strategic autonomy in terms of energy, health care system, IT and so on”.
The WEF will gather virtually this year to address the economic, environmental, social and technological challenges following the COVID-19 pandemic, under the theme ‘A crucial year to rebuild trust’.