Technological clusters

The département of the Val d'Oise is involved in six national or world-class competitiveness clusters in the fieldsof health, digital technology, complexsystems and software, the automotive industry, aeronautics and finance. It offers the dynamism of a high-performance economic basin and quality living in a region with an outstanding natural environment. The département is located on the outskirts of Paris and is the site of Roissy Charles-de- Gaulle international airport.

At the heart of the Ile-de-France, the leading region in the country, the Val d'Oise is a competitive département just a few kilometres away from Paris. With a population of 1.2 million, it offers two very different aspects:

• the southern edge of the département is built-up, from Cergy-Pontoise and the Argenteuil-Bezons area right across to the towns in its south-eastern corner near Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport,

• at the same time, there are also two regional natural parks and vast rural areas of farmland: multiple cropping and stock rearing in the French Vexin and large-scale added-value farming in the Plaine de France.
  The Val d'Oise is a young region, with one third of the inhabitants aged under 20. 

ECONOMIC CENTRES OF ACTIVITY WITH A GLOBAL OUTLOOK 

 Located to the north and north-east of the outskirts of Paris, the Val d'Oise is in a prime location both as the natural extension of greater Paris, and the gateway to Northern Europe (Great Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands) and Eastern Europe.
Its international nature is underlined by the presence of Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle International airport (the largest airport in continental Europe). The airport has an integrated TGV high-speed rail station providing quick connections for air and rail passengers to all the major cities in France, Europe and worldwide.

«The Val d'Oise - making life easier for entrepreneurs every day.»

A NETWORK OF HIGHLY COMPLEMENTARY COMPANIES

 The economic fabric of the Val d'Oise is made up mostly of small businesses and industries, but the département is also home to a number of large firms which are playing a vital role in its economic growth. The Val d'Oise is already home to corporate headquarters and manufacturers who are well-known both nationally and worldwide. Many are located in the urban district of Cergy-Pontoise, the technological basin of Argenteuil-Bezons and the area close to Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport: 3M, SPIE, BP, JONHSON, DASSAULT, SAGEM Groupe SAFRAN, PEUGEOT, THALES, THOMSON, FUJITSU-SIEMENS, KUBOTA, SONY ERICSSON, OPEL, YAMAHA, EADS, NIELSEN, BROTHER, HUAWEI, DELPHI, PIONEER, and more.

The SMEs are concentrated on technology-related areas of business: mechanical and industrial equipment manufacturing, digital technology, electronics, high added-value medical equipment and so on.

INVOLVED IN 6 INTERNATIONAL AND WORLD-CLASS COMPETITIVENESS CLUSTERS

 Six « competitiveness clusters » recognised by the French government are located in the Val d'Oise: System@Tic Paris Région, working in the fields of Complex Software and Systems; Medicen Paris Région for Health and Biotechnology; Cap Digital Paris Région: Images, Multimedia and Digital Technology; Mov'eo: Road Safety and Sustainable Mobility; ASTech Paris Région, devoted to Aeronautics and the Space industry, and Finance Innovation, serving the Finance Industry.
The networks of excellence in the Val d'Oise are also backed up by networks of companies covering the département, working in several specific areas of skill: the Mechanics Committee, Measurement network (RMVO), Ecological Industry Network , Val d'Oise - Yvelines Automotive Network (RAVY), Aerospace Network (Val d'Oise SAT), and others.
 

120 BUSINESS PARKS IN 2 MAJOR EMPLOYMENT BASINS:
CERGY-PONTOISE AND THE ROISSY CHARLES-DE-GAULLE AIRPORT CLUSTER 

 DIn the Val d'Oise, some 3 000 hectares are now set aside to accommodate 120 business parks. In the past twenty years, the département has gained 100 000 new employees. This is one of the best rates of growth in France.
The département is divided into six geographical areas on which the Val d'Oise Conseil Général bases its strategies. They each have different economic challenges:

- The French Vexin,
- The Pays de France,
- The Montmorency Valley,
- The Cergy-Pontoise urban district,
- The Plaine de France (encompassing the Roissy-CDG airport area),
- The Rives de Seine (around the Argenteuil-Bezons cluster).

CERGY-PONTOISE, A MAJOR URBAN DISTRICT WITH LINKS TO THE ECONOMIC CENTRES OF PARIS, LA DÉFENSE AND ROISSY CHARLES-DE-GAULLE.

 Built from 1969 onwards on a surface area similar to that of Paris, Cergy-Pontoise is the préfecture of the Val d'Oise, a city with a population of 200 000 and all the facilities necessary for the well-being of those who live and work there.
Cergy-Pontoise has an efficient transport network:

- SNCF rail links to two Paris stations: the Gare du Nord and the Gare Saint-Lazare, and lines A and C on the RER (Réseau Express Régional), bringing the journey time to the heart of Paris to just 35 minutes.

- La Défense is 20 minutes away by car, via the A15 and A86 motorways.

- Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport is half an hour away via the Francilienne ring road.

- the « Bus Express » route links Cergy-Pontoise to Charles-de-Gaulle airport and the TGV station.

- goods may be transported on the river Oise, from the river ports.

- there is a business airport just a few minutes from the city centre.

In terms of higher education, there are 18 000 students at the University of Cergy-Pontoise, and over 13 000 students at the business and engineering graduate schools (ESSEC1, ENSEA2, EISTI3, EPMI4, ITIN5, Institut Polytechnique Saint-Louis, etc.) Cergy-Pontoise, with the second-largest concentration of higher education in the Ile-de-France region after Paris, has both academic and industrial potential (with over 4 000 companies) and thus acts as an economic driving force for the whole département.

1 ESSEC: Graduate School of Economics and Business
2 ENSEA: Graduate School for Electronics and Applications
3 EISTI: International School of Data Processing Sciences
4 EPMI : School of Electricity, Production and Industrial Methods
5 ITIN: Graduate School of Computer science, networks and telecommunications

FOUR OTHER COMPLEMENTARY CLUSTERS IN THE VAL D'OISE

 THE "RIVES DE SEINE", area on the banks of the Seine to the south, close to Paris-La Défense, is ideally located to accommodate technological and service companies. The industrial cluster at Argenteuil and Bezons, which has a university campus, specialises in aeronautics, metalworking and high-tech industry, along with fine chemicals and plastics. The new tram line from La Défense and western Paris adds to the area's appeal.

 THE "PAYS DE FRANCE", to the north-west, is an area where private homes are the predominant form of development. Local stakeholders are fostering job creation by establishing and upgrading business parks for small and medium-sized businesses and industries, including those at Persan and Beaumont-sur-Oise. The creation of a multimodal cluster (waterway / rail / road) in the Bruyères-sur-Oise business park forms part of this development.

 THE MONTMORENCY VALLEY is above all a select residential area. However the human-sized business parks in the combined urban areas of « Val et Forêt » and « Montmorency Valley », and those of the other towns in the area (Sannois, Enghien-les-Bains, etc.) located on the RER line and the express lines to the Gare Saint-Lazare and the Gare du Nord also have a very rich fabric of specialised SMEs: high technology and subcontracting for mechanics, plastics and electronics.

 THE "FRENCH VEXIN", which stretches over the entire western part of the département, has maintained its rural feel due to continued farming and its classification as a Regional Natural Park. The quality of life there attracts new inhabitants drawn by the advantages of choice property offers in a protected environment.

The CEEVO (Val D'Oise Economic Expansion Committee), as economic development agency of Val d'Oise County Council (« Conseil General »), has been serving companies in the département and those wishing to move there since 1973. Its work is organised around four key missions:

• opening up the Val d'Oise and its companies to the world,

• strengthening the département's industrial and technological vocation,

• developing networks of entrepreneurs, research scientists and institutions,

• promoting diversity in the département.
  These all rest on a single principle: making formalities in the département easier for all existing and potential stakeholders.

MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER IN THE VAL D'OISE!

 The work done by the CEEVO is valuable both for companies in the Val d'Oise seeking to develop exports and establish relationships with other countries, and for French and international companies wishing to locate to the Val d'Oise.

ASSISTANCE, ADVICE AND SUPPORT FOR COMPANIES

 The CEEVO keeps in contact with institutions and economic organisations. This comprehensive grasp of all relevant information enables the CEEVO to advise people setting up businesses and company heads. CEEVO's teams are available at all stages of the company life cycle: creation, expansion, research and innovation, internationalisation, transfer, acquisition and so on, working in partnership with other organisations involved in local development (consular assemblies, employers' unions, government departments, technopoles, incubators, business incubators, entrepreneurs' clubs, and others).

MANAGING AN ECONOMIC OBSERVATORY

 The CEEVO gathers and uses economic and statistical information relating to the situation and business of companies in the département. This data is processed and published to provide a reliable decision-making tool for company heads and economics officers.

ECONOMIC PROMOTION FOR THE VAL D'OISE

 The CEEVO regularly organises lectures and conferences and attends professional exhibitions in France and abroad. It instigates a large number of economic events and technical forums as well as running a « Val d'Oise Companies Information » point in the TGV station at Charles-de-Gaulle airport and offices in Osaka, Japan and Shanghai, China.

SUPPORT FOR COMPANIES LOCATING TO THE VAL D'OISE

 A regularly updated computer database (www.implantation95.com) has been compiled to provide a quick information service for company managers seeking land, premises or offices. The information is supplied on technical sheets sent to French and foreign companies looking for somewhere to locate their premises. The CEEVO can also accompany entrepreneurs visiting selected sites, putting them in contact with property developers or local authorities.

SUPPORT FOR EXPORTS

 Events and support organised under the auspices of the département's exports Committee, « Val d'Oise International » include day seminars on export techniques, conferences presenting external markets, administrative assistance for companies, approaches to foreign markets and participation at industrial shows worldwide.
The CEEVO is heavily involved in economic development agency international networks in Europe (EURADA) and worldwide (World Cities Alliance).