Faced with the economic isolation of certain French regions and departments, the issue of reindustrialisation is becoming increasingly important. For Charles Rodwell, Member of Parliament for Yvelines and member of the Finance Committee, the packaging industry has a key role to play in revitalising these regions. Speaking to ALL4PACK EMBALLAGE PARIS, he discusses the reasons why France is such a prime location for the packaging industry

Re-industrialising the country

In his opening remarks, Charles Rodwell recalled the predominance of the packaging industry in the French economic market. The MP asserted that “packaging companies have an absolutely key role to play in the reindustrialisation of our country, and quite simply in bringing life and economic activity back to dozens of departments and conurbations in France ’. He cites as an example Plastics Valley, located around Oyonnax and the Pôle Européen de Plasturgie (PEP), which has the highest concentration of companies specialising in plastics in Europe. PEP has made a major contribution to revitalising the Ain and Jura departments, two relatively isolated areas. The arrival of new packaging companies in these areas has had a number of benefits:

• Creation of new jobs, thereby reducing the unemployment rate.
• Increased local taxes for the conurbations, leading to an improvement in local public services.
• Synergies with other neighbouring companies, resulting in the creation of additional added value.

The packaging sector, a key player in French industry

Globalisation, and the resulting increase in the flow of goods, means that packaging companies can play a key role in the country’s economic activity, particularly through exports. Every product that is exported needs to be packaged not only safely and practically, but also aesthetically, in order to enhance its value. In this sense, the activity of companies in this sector is fundamental to dozens of other industries in France that use packaging technologies to meet consumer demands.

Despite international competition to attract various industrial flagships, Charles Rodwell maintains that France is a first choice country for foreign companies to set up business. To justify this, he points out that ‘ dozens of French and foreign companies have already set up shop and are waiting to find economic and environmental solutions ’, as well as the fact that French policies and reforms aimed at attracting investors to the country are encouraging business investment and recruitment. The market is therefore more favourable than ever for new companies to set up here.

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