The French infrastructure sector has long been a source of national pride. France hosts some of the global leaders in the sector and French construction and energy giants continue to expand and win significant international contracts. Thanks to their good international reputation and high level of expertise, these companies can take advantage of the opportunities opening up worldwide in fast-developing, high-profit, emerging markets. At the same time, however, due to the global economic difficulties experienced throughout 2008, France’s domestic infrastructure market has experienced a certain slowdown. The BMI Q408 France Infrastructure Report provides a thorough overview of the sector and forecasts that the infrastructure industry will grow at an average of 3.6% during the 2008-2012 period.

In the transport and utilities sectors, French companies stand out both in the European and global markets thanks to their long-held expertise and experience. More specifically, in the transport sector French companies’ specialisation in the construction of high-speed rail links means that they can make the most of a currently booming industry both in Western and Eastern Europe. Moreover, as far as the utilities sector is concerned, French companies hold a significant comparative advantage thanks to their expert knowledge, technological pioneering and investment in both renewable sources of energy and nuclear power. In the past few years, environmental considerations over the use of conventional energy sources as well as political concerns over Europe’s dependency on external suppliers, have provided momentum for exploring, developing and investing in alternative sources of energy.

As already mentioned, several French infrastructure companies enjoy the status of European or even global leaders in their respective sectors. Companies like VINCI, Bouygues, Eiffage, Amec SPIE, Lafarge and EDF, not only get the lion’s share of new contracts in the domestic French market, but also keep expanding and consolidating their positions internationally. However, it should as well be mentioned that many small- and medium-sized companies also operate successfully in France, usually on a more confined, local level. For instance, in the French construction sector, there are about 250,000 active contractors.

Regarding the developments in the French infrastructure business environment, public-private partnership contracts continue to be highly popular. However, red tape remains to be a problem and Sarkozy’s administration is determined to ameliorate the regulatory framework, making it more attractive to new players wishing to enter the French market. At the same time, the exceptionally high tax rates, in comparison to the rest of Europe, pose an additional problem to potential investors.

Overall, BMI’s macroeconomic forecast for France for 2008 is not as optimistic as we had hoped. With unemployment levels forecast to reach 7.7%, a persistent budgetary deficit, and a global economic downturn, we forecast a decreased growth of only 1.8% for France in 2008.