Every year, the Greater Paris Investment Agency awards the best foreign investors who chose to locate their business in the Greater Paris area.
These trophies are awarded in front of an invited public representing the economic and political sector.

Success stories 2010

Pierre Simon, Chairman of the Greater Paris Investment Agency, awarded the Best foreign investor of the Year 2010 Price on 22 June 2010 in presence of Anne Marie Idrac, Minister of State for Foreign Trade.



GENPACT (USA)
Location : Paris
Activity : business process and technology management
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Proximity with its clients

PROCUBEWAY SAS (INDIA)
Location : Levallois Perret
Activity : consulting firm devising Global Sourcing Strategies and facilitating, accelerating and securing outsourcing plans especially abroad.
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Quality of qualified workforce 
• Proximity with its clients
• opportunities offered by France to develop the potential of start-ups and incubators
• Quality of infrastructures

ZTE (China)
Location : Boulogne Billancourt
Activity : leading global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Central geographic position in Europe
• Proximity with its clients

CMC Blue France (Vietnam)
Location : Paris
Activity : information technology and communication
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Central geographic position in Europe
• History and cultural proximity between France and Vietnam
• Importance of the Vietnamese diaspora

Success stories 2009

Thierry Jacquillat awarded the Best foreign investor of the Year 2008 Price on 8 April 2009 in presence of Valérie Pécresse, Minister for Higher Education and Research and Jean-Paul Huchon, Chairman of the Ile-de-rance Regional Council:

HCL Technologies France (India)
Location : La Défense
Activity : electronics
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Greater Paris superior attractiveness regarding business development and innovation

Keiretsu Paris (USA)
Location : Paris
Activity : Business Angels
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Opportunities offered by France to develop the potential of start-ups and incubators
• Dynamism of the French market

Canasoil France Europe (Canada)
Location : Paris
Activity : Sustainable solution provider in infrastructures and transportation
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Central geographic position in Europe
• Proximity with its clients

Success stories 2008

In 2008, in presence of Jean-Paul Huchon, Chairman of the Ile-de-France Regional Council, the Greater Paris Investment Agency awarded 3 companies :

Was also attending this event Eric Surdej, Managing Director of LG France, who gave a testimonial of the success of LG’s research center established in Villepinte only 4 years ago.

Ittiam Systems Europe - India
Location: Paris
Activity: Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Systems.
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris :

• Central geographic position in Europe
• Quality of transportation infrastructures

The award was given to Marc Guillaumet, World Vice President of Ittiam Systems in presence of Jean-Paul Huchon and Ranjan Mathai, Ambassador of India in Paris.

Joost Technologies
Location: Paris (80 job creations planned in the coming years)
Activity: internet TV company using P2P technology
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Quality of the workforce
• High quality communications infrastructures

The award was given to Sébastien Brangoulo, Research Team Manager of Joost Technologies in presence of Pierre Simon, Chairman of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Huawei France - China
Location: Paris (rise from 150 to 500 job creations in the next years)
Activity: world-leading telecom solutions provider focused on building long-term partnerships with telecom operators.
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Most innovative and competitive telecommunications market

The award was given to Gaston Khoury, Vice Chairman of Huawei France in presence of Pierre Simon, Chairman of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Ma She, Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs at the Embassy of China in Paris.

Success Stories 2007

In 2007, in presence of Christine Lagarde, Minister for the Economy, Finance and Employment, the Greater Paris Investment Agency awarded 3 companies:

Cognizant-CTHS – India
Location: La Défense (100 job creations planned in the next 3 years)
Activity: leading provider of information technology and business process outsourcing services.
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Quality of the workforce
• Proximity with its clients (6 companies from the CAC40)

The award was given to Kim Rajah, Vice President Europe, Koumar Vijaya,
Marketing Manager France and Salil Punalekar, Vice President Assistant France.

Gravity Europe – Republic of Korea
Location: La Défense (30 job creations planned in the next 3 years)
Activity: video games and entertainment
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Dynamism of Greater Paris which is well-known for being Europe’s most creative region for video games
• High quality communications infrastructures

The award was given to Stéphane Bonazza, Senior Manager and David Azria,
Operations Manager in presence of Kim Jong-Il, plenipotentiary Minister
of the South Korean Embassy

Merz Pharma - Germany
Location: Maison-Laffitte (50 job creations planned in the next 3 years)
Activity: pharmaceutical company
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Dynamism of the French pharmaceutical market
• Presence of the main world actors of this industry in the Greater Paris region.

Success Stories 2006

In 2006, in presence of Christine Lagarde, Minister Delegate for foreign trade, the Greater Paris Investment Agency awarded 4 companies:

Altra France, subsidiary of Shamir Optical Group - Israël
Location: Collegien (50 job creations)
Activity: leading provider of innovative products and technology to the lens market
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Proximity of the best optical companies
• Location at the heart of Europe

The award was given at the Senate Presidence to Ron Sonnenshein, CEO of Altra Europe
and Christian Rottger, CEO of Altra France in presence of Rafaël Barak,
Cousellor at the Embassy of Israel in Paris.

Nycomed France SAS – Denmark
Location: Suresnes (45 job creations)
Activity: privately owned pharmaceutical company that provides medicines for hospitals, specialists and general practitioners, as well as over-the-counter medicines in selected markets.
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Quality of the workforce especially in the pharmaceutical sector

The award was given to Hakan Bjorklund, CEO of Nycomedand Pascal Brossard,
Managing Director of Nycomed France.

eBay PayPal Skype – USA (special award for Innovation)
Location: Paris (60 job creations)
Activity: world leader for e-commerce
Reasons for setting up in Greater Paris:

• Abundance of highly qualified and productive workforce specialized in high technologies

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