China and Normandy: future partners
Normandy is the most well-known French region in the world because of its natural highlights and cultural and historical heritage: Mont-Saint-Michel, the cliffs of Etretat, the 1944 D-Day landing beaches, Claude Monet's gardens in Giverny, Bayeux tapestry, Joan of Arc, Gustave Flaubert All these world-class landmarks and cultural icons made the region very attractive for the people over the world.
The region is also considered a highly attractive business location in Europe with a large coastal area, crossed by the Seine River and bordering the English Channel, the world's busiest seaway. It's a natural transit route toward Paris. The area holds a strategic and competitive position: It is the first region in France for energy production, for nuclear power as well as for renewable marine energies. The port in Le Havre is the first port in France in terms of international trade and container transportation, while the port in Rouen is the first port in Europe for cereals trade and storage.
The Normandy region has highly competitive companies, researchers and labor in numerous industries, such as food processing, offshore wind, aeronautics, chemicals, biotechnology, the health sector and logistics. Normandy is a welcoming land for foreign companies, because of its strategic position as a gateway to the European market. In Normandy, 47 percent of the newly created jobs and 61 percent of investment projects have resulted from foreign businesses.
Normandy is obviously linked with China given their growing partnership in economic, business and cultural cooperation. This partnership has been strengthened as a result of such developments as the establishment of a sister city relationship between Upper Normandy and Tianjin, the opening of the first Confucius Institute for Business in France on the Neoma Business School campus in Rouen, and the organization of the China Europa business convention in Le Havre.
The relationship between Upper Normandy and Tianjin has become closer in recent years, especially in interuniversity cooperation. Neoma Business School, with its ambition of being a top school in training flexible, innovative leaders of tomorrow's economy, has played an important role in connecting the region with China. Given the growing opportunities that have emerged in China and the challenges the Chinese market presents for European and global companies, the school has continuously strengthened its China related programs thanks to its structural cooperation with Chinese academic and business partners. Today it has more than 1,000 graduates based in China and receives about 300 Chinese students per year on its campuses in France.
Neoma Business School works in close collaboration with regional authorities, in particular for the launch of its Confucius Institute for Business, which encourages economic exchanges between France and China. The groundwork that has been accomplished by the Confucius Institute for more than a year has favored mutual understanding between companies in Normandy that are seeking business opportunities in China and Chinese investors who look to gain access to the European market. Moreover, the institute has provided opportunities for other stakeholders in the region. Recently it organized a delegation in China for several regional high schools to enhance educational exchanges between the region and China.
The rapprochement between Normandy and China, especially the Tianjin area, is high stakes for Neoma Business School, not only concerning visibility, but also opportunities for exporting the school's academic excellence. The priority of the school in such a constructive context is to strengthen its presence in China. Expanding in a key and dynamic market such as China is at the heart of the school's strategy for the internationalization - it aims to be identified in Asia as a European expert in management and business education.
The Upper Normandy Region and Neoma Business School have many ideas regarding the future of this rapprochement. There are already many longstanding examples of this rapprochement in tourism, in economics and in research. The two regions will come closer in high priority sectors such as renewable energies and the food industry, for example. The attractiveness of Normandy for foreign investment is certainly an asset for Chinese entrepreneurs who wish to set up in Europe, while products and know-how from Normandy are much appreciated in China because of their quality and innovation. Neoma will still back the region in all its initiatives and will continue to put forward its international academic recognition to introduce innovative collaboration with China, which will, in the long run, enhance the Franco-Chinese economy.
Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol is president of the Upper Normandy Region and Frank Bostyn is dean of Neoma Business School.
(China Daily European Weekly 06/05/2015 page29)
