The Government, through the voice of Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, has just announced the accreditation (or renewal of accreditation), for the period 2019-2022, of 48 of the 56 competitiveness clusters that had applied for such accreditation to the Direction Générale des Entreprises of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance.
Created in 1994 and awarded the Cosmetic Valley label in 2005, Cosmetic Valley, alongside other clusters that also drive strategic sectors for the French industry and economy (automotive, healthcare, nuclear, digital, aeronautics, etc.), is obviously part of this list. Already entrusted by the French government with the nationwide management of the perfume and cosmetics industry, a key contributor to our country's trade balance and employing over 150,000 people, it would have been abnormal for it to be otherwise.
During the examination of its application, Cosmetic Valley was able to highlight its added value, its comparative advantage and its particularly positive assets. The cluster has created a veritable "industrial fabric" of major groups and SMEs, private and public players, building an ecosystem whose size and activities are constantly expanding. A thrifty public purse, its budget is financed mainly by private funds. Its governance is free of the dependency relationships between principals/subcontractors/suppliers that characterize similar structures in other sectors.
This fair and balanced organization is probably one of the main reasons for the cluster's success, since it has the largest number of members of any competitive cluster (nearly 600 companies, including 80% SMEs), and at each of its quarterly board meetings it examines around twenty candidates eager to join.
An ardent supporter of Made in France and its values (protection of the environment, consumer safety, authenticity of raw materials, performance and innovation), Cosmetic Valley provides its members with an exceptional range of tools: training and scientific or legal conferences, networking and synergies, setting up and helping to finance collaborative research projects (there are currently 400 of them, for a total of 450 million euros) developed between manufacturers in the cosmetics industry, academic research (9 universities are partners of the cluster:Orléans, Rouen, Tours/François Rabelais, Versailles / Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines, Le Havre, Cergy-Pontoise, Paris 13, Paris Sud, Sorbonne Université) and reputed scientific institutions (CNRS, LNE, Synchrotron Soleil), support for start-ups through the Cosmet'up,and a specialized incubator in Chartres, the opening of additional local offices (Marseille) and partnerships with new regions or new clusters that complement its activities (AURA), access to international markets and major trade shows (Hong Kong, Dubai, Shanghai, Las Vegas, etc.).
This dynamic, practical policy has recently seen four major achievements, all of which are investments in the future: an international trade show - the "International Trade Fair of the Year" - and the "International Trade Fair of the Year". Cosmetic 360 - created in Paris under the banner of innovation, and which is proving a success from one edition to the next; under the label Cosmetic Clusters International Network (CCIN), the grouping of some twenty global cosmetics clusters, enabling Cosmetic Valley to embark on an aggressive international strategy; co-financed by the European Union's COSME program and involving four countries (France, Spain, Portugal, Romania), a European cluster Cosmetics4Wellbeing, which the cluster, demonstrating its continental dimension, has taken the lead; the launch of the Maison Internationale de la Cosmétique in Chartres, the cluster's new headquarters, whose construction has been entrusted by the city and its metropolis to the architectural firm Search.
Marc-Antoine Jamet, President of Cosmetic Valley declared " I'm delighted that our competitiveness cluster has been awarded the label in the year of the 25th anniversary of its creation.èmeI'd like to extend my sincere thanks to the public authorities, first and foremost the French Minister of the Economy, Bruno Lemaire, whose support we have always enjoyed and with whom we happily collaborate. The driving force behind France's industry-leadingmarketinternationalCosmetic Valley will continue to defend the excellence of "Made in France" in a sectorThe future, in which our country must fight to maintain and develop its positions in an increasingly competitive environment. That's why I'm concerned about three things: firstly, the insistent rumors about the possibility that the French government will not honor the financial promises made by the Fonds Unique d'Investissement (FUI); secondly, the fact that this label does not put an end to the scattering of certain industries between several clusters - which is harmful in France and incomprehensible abroad - and, for our industry for example, to the integration of ingredients essential to our products into a purely regional grouping dominated by food flavors and fragrances for hygiene and household products; lastly, nothing is said about the organization of missions, similar to those carried out by some of our foreign neighbors, at lower cost and perhaps with a different level of efficiency, currently carried out by public operators such as Business France. Beyond the answers it will provide to these legitimate questions, the French government needs to know that it can count on our work, our cooperation and our recognition."
