Sophia-Antipolis : Découvrir.

The economic results over a period of 12 months from January 2003 to January 2004

An exhaustive survey carried out by the * SYMISA - for the period from January 2003 to January 2004 shows that the science and technology park of Sophia Antipolis has continued to chalk up moderate growth, confirming its capacity to respond to a challenging business climate.

Net balance of 724 jobs over the 12-month period,

ie. a total of 26,635 jobs and 1,276 companies.

Sophia Antipolis has never posted negative variations: the statistics that come out of the survey show that the technopolis is still attracting both French and foreign investment and continues to faciltate growth for a certain number of firms already present on the site.

The net balance of + 724 jobs over the 12-month period gives a growth rate of + 2,8%. This positive figure results from a combination of company arrivals and departures, and extensions or reductions of activities pursued by stable long-established firms.

In contrast to the previous period analyzed (from July 2001 to January 2003), internal growth in 2003 was the driving factor behind the Park’s development. Amongst the 1,129 “stable” units operating on the site in the period covered by the survey, 252 companies at Sophia Antipolis accounted for 2,020 new jobs.

External growth remains, however, clearly positive as regards the number of new arrivals on the site, with a net increase of +15 companies, though negative in terms of the number of jobs, ie. 19 units.

One notes that the Service sector again chalks up a good score, representing more than half of the total number of firms and accounting for 30% of total jobs.

As for Information Technologies, they represent 23% of companies at Sophia Antipolis, and 43% of jobs; these figures are slightly lower than those registered in the previous survey. In fact, this sector is down 3% in terms of company share and down 6% in terms of job share, as compared with better results in other sectors, especially that of Services.

Health Sciences and Chemistry represent for their part 4% of companies, and 9% of jobs. One notices a strong surge in this sector, which was already perceptible in 2002 and continued in 2003, linked to the development of certain players such Galderma R&D and Vincience, and the arrival of new entities, notably Parallel Design.

Higher Education, Research and Training account for 5% of the establishments at Sophia and 12 % of jobs. The opening of the INRA Research Center, which reunites the existing Sophia teams and those from Antibes (ie. over 200 people), plus the growth registered by the CNRS UNSA 13S Laboratory (IT, Signals and Systems), corresponding to an extra 33 employees, were characteristic of the dynamism and diversification demonstrated in 2003 by this field.

“The dynamics behind Sophia Antipolis is pursuing its path of uninterrupted growth, even if it proved to be moderate in 2003,” emphasized Jean-Pierre Mascarelli, President of the SYMISA*.

“In spite of a restrictive business climate, Sophia Antipolis is still looked upon as a positive value by investors. I can offer as proof the testimonials provided by company directors, who indicate the extent to which being based at Sophia Antipolis is for them a factor of differentiation representing appreciable added value in the context of their development plans.

“The General Council of the Alpes-Maritimes is more than ever aware of this territorial richness: one of its major goals is, in fact, to involve itself in business development, a vital area for all those active in the region.

“The Sophia Antipolis - Alpes-Maritimes structure which is currently being set up in collaboration with the urban communities and more specifically with that of Sophia Antipolis, will have, among other things, the mission of fashioning the science park’s future and pursuing the goal of quality which must motivate the entire region of the Alpes-Maritimes.”

* SYMISA :a body comprised of all the institutional players at Sophia Antipolis, responsible for the Park’s overall development policy, its administration and the financial management of the operation.

President: Mr. Jean-Pierre Mascarelli, General Councillor for the Alpes-Maritimes and President of Sophia Alpes Maritimes Promotion.