PARIS – German aviation firm Lilium and Swiss-based nickel refinery company KL1 will set up new sites in France representing a combined investment of 700 million euros ($753.83 million), French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday.
Lilium will invest 400 million euros in a new factory that will create up to 850 new jobs. KL1’s new site in Blanquefort, near Bordeaux, will amount to an investment of 300 million euros, creating 200 new jobs, Le Maire said.
The precise site of the new Lilium plant, which will be a factory to help produce electric jet aircraft, is yet to be finalised although it will be in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region.
The deals come as President Emmanuel Macron prepared to kick off the country’s annual “Choose France” business summit, aimed at attracting foreign investments into the country.
“Choose France brings in capital, Choose France brings in new technologies, Choose France helps us plug holes in gaps on certain value chains,” said Le Maire.
($1 = 0.9286 euros)
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Clelia Oziel)
