Kerala is amazing, offers great opportunities for investment: French Consul General

Kochi, Feb. 22: 
The growing innovation-driven Indo-French partnership offers a unique opportunity to Kerala to promote trade and economic ties with France in different areas, French Consul General for Puducherry and Chennai Etienne Rolland-Piegue said on Saturday.

Addressing the country-session on France on the second day of the Invest Kerala Global Summit in Kochi, he said Kerala has a lot going in its favour for attracting global investments, especially from France.

''Kerala is amazing...the feel of Kerala is difficult to resist. The state has a vibrant cultural scene and rich culinary traditions like we have in France. Kerala has achieved what no other Indian state has achieved in terms of human development,'' the French diplomat said.


Wondering why Kerala has so far remained an uncharted territory for French companies, Mr Rolland-Piegue remarked, ''this benign neglect of Kerala is not bound to last long because relations between India and France are reaching new heights both at the political and economic level.''

Pointing out that some 750 French companies are currently operating in India employing about 4.5 lakh Indians, he said Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by France in India is also expected to increase five times in the near future.

He said France's objective is to participate in a big way in Kerala's knowledge economy, considering that the state has qualified talent in abundance. ''I see room for more synergy between France and Kerala in several areas, particularly ship-building, maritime and food and flavour processing industry.''

Noting that Kerala hosts a vibrant startups ecosystem, Mr Roland-Piegue regretted that many French companies still do not have Kerala in mind. Their focus is on Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

The French official said the number of students from Kerala in France has been increasing gradually. He pointed out that 20 percent of the Indian students in France are from the Southern state. He invited more students from Kerala to pursue higher studies in France for the benefit of both India and France.

He also spoke about the recent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit hosted by France which was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the co-chair with French President Emmanuel Macron. The summit, he said, shows the common priority of the two countries to protect their strategic autonomy.

''Developing future technologies is the common goal of our leaders. The two countries have already decided to celebrate 2026 as the Indo-French Year of Innovations,'' he added.