France Vows to Raise Manufacturing by 25% Over Next 5 Years

IndustryWeek (Alfroy, AFP) - President Nicolas Sarkozy launched a drive on March 4 to reverse an accelerating decline in French industry, protect jobs and raise manufactured output by 25% over five years...The French leader said 6.5 billion euros (US$8.84 billion) would be assigned to support research and investment from funds raised by a special bond...He said a new national savings scheme would be set up in September to raise cash for industry and that government representatives would take a more active role in companies in which the state owns a stake.