A solid and flourishing economy

Its close proximity to Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Belgium, but also to the Rhine, Europe’s most important commercial river, is a huge advantage for Strasbourg and economy has brilliantly taken advantage of this privileged geographical location.

The presence of major European institutions as well as the setting up of the Strasbourg-Ortenau Eurodistrict have also contributed to this economic dynamism.

Strasbourg thus has:

> the second busiest river port in France, with 9 million tonnes of freight (2008 figures).

> a long tradition of organising international conferences (more than a hundred per year) and trade fairs (nearly fifty annually), that put the city on the second rank after Paris.

> a host of foreign or internationally active companies, spread throughout its inner fringes, including Steelcase, Kraft Foods, Sanofi-Aventis, Johnson Controls, Alcatel-Lucent, Kronenbourg, Eli Lilly, Heineken, Clestra-Hauserman, General Motors, Delphi, Soprema.

> highly successful business parks, some of which are dedicated to high technology businesses (such as the 170-hectare Pôle d’Innovation in lllkirch) or the tertiary sector (for example, the Espace Européen de l’Entreprise).

> a very wide-range of service industries, which, in particular, make the city one of France’s main banking centres (13 banks have their head offices in Strasbourg), acknowledged for its high level of international expertise.

> a great variety of industries, including a number of key branches such as chemicals, automotive parts or agri-food (400 companies, 15,000 employees).

> innovation clusters renowned worldwide, particularly in the field of life sciences and living organisms, which occupy 40 % of the scientists.