Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici created news when he revealed exclusively to the AAPA on Feb.18 that the government was moving away from its earlier pledge to bring its budget deficit down to 3% of gross domestic product this year, arguing that Europe’s recession had created an “exceptional” situation requiring less austerity.
 
The minister’s comments were picked up widely by French media, giving our association some nice publicity.
 
The one-hour on-the-record meeting over breakfast in the ministry’s dining room, with over twenty of us attending, covered a wide range of other key topics: …

Nicolas Dufourcq, the new head of the French government’s Banque Publique d’Investissement, says that one of the greatest obstacles he faces is finding viable projects, not money.
The state bank was created last year to help small and medium-sized companies overcome difficulties in obtaining financing from traditional sources of funding.
At a lunch hosted by the bank for some twenty AAPA members Feb. 4, he explained: “It’s the projects we need to find, and to help.” There is plenty of funding, state and private, he noted, but many companies would still rather …

Fostering the “reshoring” of French companies that have chosen to relocate overseas and encouraging French people to prefer products “Made in France,” are just two of the tasks set for Industrial Revival Minister Arnaud Montebourg by President Francois Hollande, Mr. Montebourg told some 30 Anglo-American Press Association members on Jan. 8.
During a lunch kindly hosted by Mr. Montebourg at the Finance Ministry at Bercy, he referred to one of President Obama’s campaign slogans: “Let’s bring jobs back home.” And he noted that France’s Socialist party had been inspired by the …

There is no danger of the world running out of oil and gas any time soon, but it will never be cheap, the head of France’s largest and most profitable company told more than 20 AAPA members at a breakfast meeting on Dec. 11.
Christophe de Margerie, chief executive of French oil and gas giant Total SA, told us that new discoveries and technological advances have increased the oil industry’s ability to increase production in recent years, so that the global maximum for oil production is now estimated at 98 million barrels …

Governments of the euro zone that are struggling to prevent the euro crisis developing into a full-blown depression are navigating in uncharted waters, Jean-Claude Trichet told the AAPA on June 27.
The former head of the European Central Bank told two dozen AAPA members that the euro zone has successfully weathered three crises since the Lehman Brothers collapse sparked a financial maelstrom in 2007, thanks to bold decision-making by central banks and governments. But he acknowledged that government officials and central bankers are still writing the text book as they deal …

 
We were twenty-odd members and guests, and with a “terrorist” in our midst at John Morris’  loft on the evening of June 11th.   The “terrorist” label for Guy Wyser-Pratte came from a French financial journal that called him an ex-marine qui terrorize nos patrons.  Wyser-Pratte, who has been called other names, including corporate raider, in his forty years of shareholder activism, did not contest the truth of that headline in his talk to the AAPA. In keeping with his straight-from-the-shoulder style, he kicked off the discussion by saying: “J¹accuse!, “ and …

 
 
Lazard France CEO Matthieu Pigasse cut a smooth figure as he strode into Lazard’s boardroom for a breakfast meeting with some 20 AAPA members on April 30.
His slim, pin striped suit and relaxed, open-shirt look were a surprising contrast to the somber portraits on the walls of the men who have run this venerable advisory and asset management firm for the last century and a half.
At 43, his accomplishments are already impressive. He is co-owner of  “Le Monde” newspaper and owns the magazine “Les Inrockuptibles”. He recently served as an …

The global economy would suffer from sustained oil prices of $100 a barrel, but the current output of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries members is reducing the risk of a real oil shock like the one in 2008 when the price of oil spiked to nearly $150, the head of the International Energy Agency told a group of AAPA members on Feb. 18. If today’s oil prices endure, then “the economic burden will be continued,” Nobuo Tanaka said. On the positive side for consumers, OPEC has recently ramped …

Dear Friends and Members of the Anglo-American Press Association,
It is a both an honor and a challenge to have been chosen to serve as president of this association, with its long and rich history, its dynamic present and promising future.
The life of a foreign correspondent is never easy…and never boring. It is challenging for many reasons, but every journalist I have met in my 20 years abroad pursues his or her work with passion. In recent years, we have seen huge changes in the journalism industry. Newspapers and magazines are …