Doing Business in France

Omar-Pierre SoubraFrench American Chamber of Commerce

Background• Age: 40• Years in the US: 9• Profession: Director• Company: Trimble Navigation (15 years)• Family: Dad of 3 crazy boys • Training:

• LASER engineer• Electronic & Power engineer• MA Sales & Marketing

• Fun stuff: President of the French AmericanChamber of Commerce, Maker, Google Glass owner,Google Project Tango expert, 3D scanning expert

• Always more:• Linkedin.com/in/omarsoubra• @Omar_Soubra

US connections…

• 13 million American possesses French heritage• 2 million speaks French at home

Culture

• Food• Language• Politics• Holidays• Arrogance• Fun• Passion• Love• Beautiful country

French Education

Education

Getting Connected

• Elitism• Network• Assistant

barrier…

French Economy

• GDP: $2.271 trillion (9th in the World)

• France is Europe’s second largest economy (5th in the World)

• European second largest consumer market

• French companies in Fortune’s 500: 31

Innovation

• French Ranks #1 in Europe

So French inventions…

Some more inventions

• The Braille System• Canning• The Bra• The Parachute• Camera Phone• Combustion Engine• 20% of the video games coming to video game

systems

E-commerce company created by French

Innovation tax credit

• France gives companies 30% of all R&D costs up to €100 millions (~$140m) and 5% above this threshold, in tax credit

Future Trends (hot topics)

• Cars consumption of 120mpg

• Electric charging stations• Battery life & power• Driverless vehicles• Electric planes• Heavy-lift airships• Embedded Software• Electric propulsion

satellites

• Next gen high speed train• Eco-friendly ships• Smart textiles• Wood industry• Recycling materials• Thermal building renovation• Renewable Energy• Water quality• Green chemicals and

biofuels

Future Trends (hot topics) - 2

• Medical biotechs• Digital healthcare• Medical devices• Sustainable food• Big data• Cloud computing• E-learning• Telecom• Smart Grids

• Nano-electronics• Connected devices• Augmented reality• Contactless services• Supercomputer• Robotics• Industrial plant of the

future• Cybersecurity

Colorado ties…

2013

• France is the 16th market for Colorado goods, importing $172 million and exporting $151 million

• Main exports: Solar, Electronics, Aircraft parts, data servers

• Main imports: Gas turbines, Electronics, Fine Art, Vodka, Aircraft Engines

Set up a business

Great resource: Invest in France Agency - http://www.invest-in-france.org/

Doing Business

The Boss

Software

Sexism

Yes, but…

=I disagree.

Don’t forget Food!

Future?

LanguageFrench could become the World most spoken language by 2050

Source: http://www.thelocal.fr/20140326/french-language-be-the-most-spoken-language-by-2050

Omar_Soubra RMFACC.ORG