Common Good Summit: Globalization versus territories

This debate took place during the third edition of the Common Good Summit, organized jointly by TSE, Challenges and Les Echos-Le Parisien Evénements. On June 1 and 2, 2023, economists, economic decision-makers, representatives of public authorities and civil society came together to reflect on a central question: how can we save the common good? With over 1,300 participants and rich exchanges, this third edition confirms the importance of discussing tomorrow's issues together, from climate, mobility, food and inflation to health and artificial intelligence.

The balance between local and global is sometimes difficult to strike. At a time of relocation, territories have a card to play to (re)become places of economic attraction.

Emmanuelle Auriol, an economist at TSE, makes a stark observation: "In the 1980s, we had 20% of industrial jobs, but by 2010 only 12% remained". In the wake of globalization, French jobs have disappeared. But in her view, the balance can be redressed thanks to French SMEs and ETIs. "These companies are interesting because they're based in the regions and they're the ones who innovate, so we absolutely have to help them", she points out, especially as there's plenty of room for improvement: "We only have 5,500 ETIs in France today, whereas our German neighbors have more than twice as many, 12,500."

The Banque des Territoires, through its Occitanie director, is ready to provide this support: "We are mobilized around Toulouse and Montpellier for industrial reconversion and the support of start-ups that are destined to set up on industrial wasteland," explains Annabelle Viollet.

Need for change

In her view, this reappraisal of territories is driven by young people, who "want a new paradigm: they want to choose where they live before where they work. It is society itself that is echoing this need for change: expressed needs must be able to guide investments".

So, on the one hand, society is about the younger generation, but it's also about the not-so-young. Sylvain Rabuel, President of Ehpad group Domus Vi, is betting that by investing in facilities for the elderly, services in line with the needs of this population will be required. But he admits that "outside metropolitan areas, it's much harder to attract financing."

The issue of attractiveness also involves regional accessibility. Marlène Dolveck, Managing Director of SNCF Gares & Connexions and Chairman of the Board of Directors of TSE, assures us that "she wants to bring life to all stations in France, not just the big cities, by bringing service back into the station".