Paris may attract the lion's share of France's FDI inflows, but the leaders of other French cities – Toulouse, Nice, Marseille and Lille – argue that there are just as many opportunities for investment elsewhere in the country, with specialist hubs and clusters growing in the life sciences, aerospace and textiles sectors.

Logistics providers are becoming an ever more crucial component in the supply chain, as businesses recognise the importance of being able to move products to any location, quickly.

The reputation of European companies when it comes to new medical technologies and the continent's attractive regulatory environment is increasingly causing venture capitalists from the US to steer their investments across the Atlantic.

As the BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China – realise the decade-old prediction that they would become economic superpowers, attention now turns to the global economies that will follow them.

In sectors such as green technology and life sciences, Lyon holds a presence for investors that belies its small stature.

Accor president Yann Caillère explains why traditional strategies are not viable in the hotel business. For a sector vulnerable to recession, survival depends on adapting and growing