Naval Group selected for the 'Var Est' program (€140 million invested)

These projects add to the list of French investors who have already chosen the Sud, illustrating its dynamism and its ability to combine industry, innovation, and ecological transition. Under the leadership of Renaud Muselier, president of the Région and of risingSUD, the regional economic development and attractiveness agency, the Sud is attracting major investments in the fields of decarbonization, defense, aeronautics, and renewable energies.

NAVAL GROUP IN LA LONDE-LES-MAURES Thus, Naval Group was selected for the 'Var Est' program, which is investing €140 million to create an excellence center for drones, autonomous systems, and underwater weapons in La Londe-les-Maures, bringing together 550 employees by the end of 2027. On the Ollioules site, the 'F5 project' extension will welcome 460 additional employees, bringing the total workforce to nearly 2,000. The project contributes to the reindustrialization of Var brownfields and aims for high environmental performance (-70% carbon footprint).

It strengthens industrial sovereignty and regional attractiveness in defense technologies.

"This first French edition of Choose France bears witness to the dynamism and audacity of French companies, in a difficult context. Alongside the State, local authorities, and entrepreneurs, we are betting on a France that creates, innovates, hires, and shines. In the Région Sud, we believe that investment by our businesses is the prerequisite for our industrial, technological, and health sovereignty, and a strong signal for our attractiveness," said Bernard Kleynhoff, president of risingSUD.

MAJOR PROJECTS Among the other projects announced are major initiatives for employment, innovation, and sovereignty (Airbus Helicopters in Marignane, Gojob, the smart temporary recruitment scale-up based in Aix-en-Provence, Gravithy with a major industrial project in Fos-sur-Mer, GSE, a corporate real estate specialist based in Avignon, ImCheck Therapeutics, a Marseille-based laboratory developing two biomedicines to fight cancer and infectious diseases, MANE, a French Riviera family group specializing in perfumes and flavors, and TotalEnergies, which converted its La Mède (Bouches-du-Rhône) refinery into a biorefinery. These projects add to the strategic investments supported by risingSUD and the Région Sud in key regional sectors of excellence, with Elyse Energy deploying the NeoCarb project in Fos-sur-Mer, a low-carbon synthetic fuel gigafactory, and Hynaero, the French start-up specializing in aeronautics.