A EUROPEAN METROPOLIS: LYON, A EUROPEAN COMPETITIVE CLUSTER

When you decide to move to Lyon and its region you are choosing one of Europe’s most attractive metropolitan areas. A competitive location and gateway to the world, Lyon attracts more and more companies and talent every year. Lyon, an appealing city and land of projects, holds all of the keys to your success.

When you set up your company in the heart of the Rhône-Alpes region, you are choosing one of the European Union’s largest, wealthiest regions. The Rhône-Alpes region’s GDP is 3.5 times higher than the average European GDP. Ranked 6th among the Union’s 204 regions, its GDP is higher than that of Finland, Greece, Ireland, Luxemburg or Portugal. The region is 3 times larger and 3 times more populated than the average region in Europe.

Comparison of regions: Rhône-Alpes, the 5th largest GDP of European regions, out of 204 regions ranked

(Eurostat 2007)

 Lyon: 468,300 inhabitants
 Lyon metropolitan area: 2.6 million inhabitants 
 Rhône-Alpes region: 6,005 million inhabitants (Source : Eurostat 2006)

Rhône-Alpes, France’s top region for international companies:

• 915 firms with foreign capital and over 50 employees
• France’s 2nd-ranking region for listings (147 listed companies)
• 82 headquarters of companies and agencies with over 1,000 employees

1,500 decision centers of companies are set up in the Lyon region, including Sanofi Aventis, bioMérieux, Groupe Seb, Renault Trucks (world headquarters), Bayer CropScience, JTEKT, Scotts International (European headquarters).

International institutions: Interpol, Euronews, the International Cancer Research Center, the WHO, one of only two bio-safety level-4 laboratories in Europe, 70 consular representations.

Lyon is also becoming a force on the European convention and exhibition scene with the building in 2006 of a 3,000-seat conference hall at the Cité International. The city also hosts internationally renowned events such as BioVision (The World Life Sciences Forum), the International Vaccine Convention, Pollutec (The International Trade Show on the Environment), SIRHA and others.

See Also

 Lyon - The Best City for your events