PARIS, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- France has preserved its attractiveness and kept luring foreign investors despite a sometimes violent social uprising that has taken a toll on domestic economic activities, according to a document presented at a weekly Council of Ministers meeting on Wednesday.
Taking into account the rolling protests staged by people angry with the high costs of living, a Kantar survey commissioned by Business France found "encouraging results": 87 percent of the economic decision-makers polled thought that France was an attractive destination for foreign investment.
Furthermore, 61 percent believed that France's attractiveness had improved over the past two years, against 20 percent who said it had deteriorated.
This dynamism was attributed to the "clarity and breadth of the government's reform agenda," which President Emmanuel Macron defended when he met, earlier this week, the world's leading CEOs over dinner at the iconic Chateau de Versailles near Paris.
In its second year, the "Choose France" summit, which aims to shed more light on France's assets, drew investment projects worth 600 million euros (683.34 million U.S. dollars), according to local media.
"The success of the Versailles summit, which brought together more than 150 French and foreign business leaders from thirty different nationalities, shows France's attractiveness," ministers of foreign affairs and finances said in joint statement.
"It confirms the growth of foreign investment flows in our country ... and that the image of France is experiencing a major improvement among international economic decision-makers and in the major markets," they added.
"In a context where expectations remain strong," the government intends to carry out reforms to enhance the country's attractiveness mainly by finalizing the legislative and regulatory procedures laid down in the Action Plan for Business Growth and Transformation of Enterprises (PACTE) that aims to facilitate the creation of enterprises and the provision of incentives to innovate, expand and create jobs.
The government has also pledged to further decrease the tax burden on businesses, reform the pension system, introduce an unemployment insurance scheme and improve France's presence in international economic forums.
