Pierre SIMON
Chairman of the Greater Paris Investment Agency

Tel : +33 1 55 65 74 80
Email : pierresimon@gp-investment-agency.com

Pierre Simon is Chairman of the Greater Paris Investment Agency since 2010.

He is also Chairman and CEO of Aravis- Paris Conseil since 2002, Member of the Supervisory Board of Caisse des Depots et Consignations CDC since 2004, member of the Board and Chairman of the Auditing Committee OSEO and Senior Advisor of Magellan Consulting and of Acxior. He was also member of the European Economic and Social Council (2002- 2005) and Vice Chairman of the Finance section of the French Economic and Social Council.

From 2004 to 2010 he was elected Chairman of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Regional Chamber of Commerce Paris Region and also became Chairman of Eurochambers on 2005.

In 1997, he became Managing Director of the French banking and financial association. Named “Mr Euro”, he coordinated the change over to Euro for financial institutions and companies.

From 1994 to 1999, he joined the Compagnie Bancaire (Paribas group) as Member of the management committee then advisor of the board.

He previously served as General Secretary of Paribas Bank (1986-1987) before becoming the Chairman of Credit du Nord Bank (belonging to the Paribas group). He took part in the major restructuring programme undergone by the bank in 1993 and 1994.

Pierre Simon served the Société Lyonnaise de Banque as Senior Banking Executive. He participated actively to the development of this important regional bank and became Deputy Managing Director from 1984 to 1986, while chairing the French visa card organisation.

He started his career as Supply Officer in the French Navy (1959-1966),

Pierre Simon has a PHD in Law and a degree from the Institute of Political Science in Lyon. He is married with 4 children.

Pierre Simon is Officer of the Legion of Honour and Commander in the Ordre National du Mérite.

Chiara CORAZZA
Managing Director of the Greater Paris Investment Agency

Tel : +33 1 55 65 74 80
Email : chiaracorazza@gp-investment-agency.com

Chiara Corazza, of Italian and English nationality, has a degree from the Institute of Political Science and a doctoral degree in public law from the University of Rome. She speaks five languages fluently.

Mrs. Corazza began her professional career at the age of 18 as a German teacher at the French high school in Rome, and as journalist at the Daily American, and then she became journalist in international and economic policy at "Il Globo" Italian daily newspaper

Arrived in France in 1985, she became the President of the Greater Paris Region’s Counsellor for International Affaires. She created Metropolis, a worldwide association of large metropolitan areas, and, working in liaison with the French Foreign Office, implemented the Region's international policy.

Mrs. Corazza was named Director of the Department of International Affairs in the Greater Paris Region, that she created in 1992. For seven years, she negotiated and successfully managed bilateral co-operation agreements with Beijing, Tokyo, Moscow, Warsaw, Hanoi, Madrid, Budapest, Montreal, Beirut, Manila, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Santiago in Chile, Johannesburg, New Delhi and Dakar.

In that frame, Chiara Corazza organized a number of economic events in Paris and abroad, working with top business and political executives and welcoming more than a hundred high-ranking foreign delegations to Paris.

In 1994 she opened the Greater Paris representation in Brussels, and created a network uniting all of Europe's capital regions.

From 1995 to 1999, Mrs. Corazza also directed the seminar: "The Foreign Relations of Local Authorities" at the University Paris Descartes.

In 1999 she was appointed as Director of International Affairs of "Paris 2008", in charge to promote Paris's candidature as the site for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Since 2002, Chiara Corazza is Managing Director of the Greater Paris Investment Agency, whose mission is to attract foreign investors to the Greater Paris Region and to lobby to enhance its attractiveness.

At the request of the Minister of Finance, she was appointed member of the Commission for the evaluation of French diplomas in management. She is also member of the Mena-OECD Business Council.

She is Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur.

Gwénaëlle DELZONGLE
Communications and International Promotion

Tel: +33 1 55 65 74 29
Email: gdelzongle@gp-investment-agency.com

Gwénaëlle Delzongle holds a Master’s degree in English and a MS in European Public Affairs and Lobbying.

She started working in Brussels as Public Affairs Coordinator, working both for the SNECMA (manufacturer of aircrafts and space engines) and for EMF (European Multimedia Forum). She participated to the positioning of these companies on specific issues debated at the European Commission and Parliament (state aid scheme for Research and Development, noise emissions from subsonic aircrafts, telecoms reform package, …).

She also taught European Affairs (functioning of institutions, techniques of communication and lobbying) during different specialized seminars including one at the ENA (National School of Administration) in front of senior officials of Latin America.

Since June 2003, she is in charge of Communications and International Promotion for the Greater Paris Investment Agency, whose mission is to attract foreign investors to the Paris region and enhance its attractiveness.

Christophe Scheidhauer (MS in International Risk Management at HEC and PhD in Political Science at Sciences-Po) was a researcher and lecturer at the National Foundation for Political Science in Paris from 1999 to 2007. He specialized in comparative policies and studied the promotion of territorial attractiveness at the Observatory for Interregional Politics and Policies and at the CEVIPOF.

He contributed to developing European research networks (ECPR, EPOPS, EPSnet).

He taught European Affairs at Sciences-Po, and developed a course on the policies and politics of the European Union, with a particular focus on benchmarking and the Open Method of Coordination.

In parallel, he acted as a consultant in lobbying and international development for major international groups based in Paris and worked for the European Commission in Brussels and Dublin.

Since 2009, he is Project Manager in charge of attractivity, benchmark and lobbying for the Greater Paris Investment Agency whose mission is to attract foreign investors to the Paris region and enhance its attractiveness.