By deciding to make the cosmetics industry a priority of its "Regional Plan of
economic development, innovation and internationalization 2022-2028" (5RDEII), the
Regional Council of Ile-de-France, was not mistaken. It is betting, in fact, on both
the extraordinary potential for development and attractiveness of the sector, in terms of employment and growth, and the soft power represented by a sector that is emblematic of the French art-de-vivre and European excellence. It is a sign of recognition that was expected by the profession, which immediately welcomed it. After the Centre-Val de Loire, New Aquitaine, Normandy, Guyana, while Hauts-de-France and Martinique could follow the same path, this agreement between the competitiveness cluster and the first economic region of Europe opens the way with other regions to other public-private partnerships all essential to the preservation, by the French cosmetics industry, of its status as world leader. It reinforces Cosmetic Valley in the mission entrusted to it by the Government to federate and bring together in France all the players in this strategic sector for our foreign trade.
With 3,200 companies, including 80% of SMEs, 246,000 direct and indirect jobs, 45 billion
of turnover, the cosmetics industry is an essential player in the economy
of France. It represents a global market of 600 billion euros and benefits from a
annual growth of around 5%, driven mainly by Asia. Strongly exporting, at
all the links of a value chain firmly established on the national territory, which
It is rarely said that it is the source of our country's second largest trade surplus, just behind aeronautics.
Its unique ecosystem only works well because beyond the dream it embodies, based
It is supported by a strong dynamism based on research, innovation and a system of training and higher education of excellence. However, today it is confronted with four major changes: the ecological transition with the challenge of sustainable development, the imperatives of decarbonization, traceability, respect for biodiversity and the promotion of sustainable development. The digital transition with the use of big data, artificial intelligence, online purchasing, connected objects and tutorials; the geopolitical transition marked not only by ever stronger international competition from increasingly ambitious challengers, but also by powerful upheavals that threaten its supplies and logistics organization; the technological transition that is leading companies to approach the 4e industrial revolution, relocation and teleworking. It is this composite dynamic that Île-de-France wanted to support.
What could be more natural? All over the world, in Korea, Japan or China in particular, the cosmetics industries that compete with us for market share are supported by public authorities, often regional, who recognize the enormous potential of the cosmetics industry and the need to support it and set up public/private partnerships in order to make it a reality.
In France, Cosmetic Valley, which became a competitiveness cluster in 2005 and was recognized by the French government as the industry's national coordinator, is responsible for fostering these partnerships between the public and private sectors and among the players in the cosmetics ecosystem. For 28 years, it has successfully carried out this task by supporting collaborative innovation between public and private research, open innovation between large groups and SMEs, internationalization of companies in partnership with Business France, and the co-construction of winning strategies with the regions. The cluster's partner regions have so far included the Centre Val de Loire. New Aquitaine. Normandie, and French Guiana - not to mention the regions of other European Union member states that the cluster has brought together, as part of the European Commission's "Go4 Cosmetics" project, because each has decided to capitalize on the potential of the cosmetics industry, both in terms of investment, innovation and research. In the Ile-de-France region. Cosmetic Valley is already deploying significant actions with the organization, every year in October, in Paris at the Carrousel du Louvre, of the international cosmetic innovation trade show "Cosmetic 360" - to which the Ile-de-France region contributes, since 2021. through Choose Paris Region - and numerous partnerships in the field of higher education and research. The number of conferences, symposiums and seminars hosted by the seven departments of Paris, its inner and outer suburbs, has been countless. What was missing, however, was an ambitious, unifying and structuring strategy for
the leading French cosmetics region, accounting for 70% of its sales. 41% of
The company has a large number of salaried employees, most of its head offices, a significant number of production, logistics and R&D sites, as well as specialized schools of a very high level.
The inclusion of the cosmetics industry as a priority industry in the SRDEII responds to this challenge and
to a well understood mutual interest between the region and the cosmetics sector. Roadmap of
regional action, the SRDEII defines the guidelines for aid to businesses, the
support for internationalization, and aid for real estate investment and innovation for
companies, as well as the orientations relating to the attractiveness of the regional territory. It must
mobilize, under the impetus of the Region, all the economic and institutional players, in order to
to ensure their development and their anchorage in the Ile-de-France region, with four main
objectives: invest in its attractiveness; develop the competitiveness of its economy;
to develop the spirit of enterprise and innovation; to act collectively in the service of companies, employment and territories. For the cosmetics industry, the prospects, like the stakeholders, are numerous and various projects have already been discussed with the Region.
This rapprochement is historic and promising. It is, with the creation in 2021 of the "Cosmetic Industry Committee" initiated by Cosmetic Valley, a turning point in the strategy of intensifying public-private partnerships necessary for the development of the sector.
For Marc-Antoine Jamet, President of Cosmetic Valley:
" You can't keep a world leadership position. It is earned and defended. This requires a strategy, objectives and allies. The partnership with an institutional player of the size and power of the Paris Region, whose skills complement those of the competitiveness cluster, helps us to better understand these issues. The strategy is to move towards the hard sciences, which our products must integrate. The objectives are those of "Made in France", authenticity of ingredients, consumer protection, environmental protection, and innovation performance. Thanks to the region, our allies are public laboratories, universities and international relays. The contribution of the Ile-de-France region, Europe's leading economic region, will be truly essential here. It allows for a change in scale, international visibility, and the conquest of the future. I am delighted with this. We are all ready for this new alliance to become a reality and for French cosmetics to win. ".
