Marc-Antoine Jamet, President of the Cosmetic Valley

While a recent report from the Institut de l’entreprise (Corporate Institute) - a think tank often presented as a club of leading French companies - said French competitiveness clusters are too numerous and lack efficiency, and while the government is seeking new avenues for reinvigorating them, the representatives of the Cosmetic Valley, as far as they are concerned, display a self-confident voluntarism.

During a press conference at Chartres on the occasion of the 10th edition of the Congress “Perfumes & Cosmetics, Regulatory Issues”, Jean-Pierre Gorges, member of the French Parliament (centre-right) and mayor of Chartres, confirmed its intention to boost the cluster’s visibility, in particular towards the general public and foreign visitors. According to local newspaper l’Écho Républicain, this goal would require moving the cluster’s headquarters to more extensive and prestigious facilities. The Palais épiscopal in Chartres would be one of the locations in the list. In any case, the aim is to create a large showroom illustrating the expertise of the cluster’s member companies.

For its part, Marc-Antoine Jamet, President of the Cosmetic Valley, and Secretary General of the LVMH group, praised the cluster for its capacity to gather SMEs and multinationals. “The Cosmetic Valley is currently the world’s leading resource centre for the cosmetics industry, it is also a great asset for French exports," he said. In a context of fierce international competition, Jamet also stressed the importance of continuing the cluster’s development and consolidation as "territories worldwide tend to specialize themselves to enhance their attractiveness.

The 10th edition of the Congress “Perfumes & Cosmetics, Regulatory Issues” was held in Chartres (France)

To date, the French competitiveness cluster of the perfumery cosmetics sector includes three regions (Centre, Haute Normandie, Ile de France) and nearly 600 companies in the beauty industry - 80% of them being SMEs, and a dozen being internationally recognized brands or multinationals.