Business in the palace of the Empress
In 1855, in an early example of crowd funding, the citizens of Marseille decided to offer Empress Eugénie, the wife of Emperor Napoleon III, a sumptuous palace overlooking the Old Port of Marseille.
Attending conferences and presentations, meeting "one-to-one" with other companies, or visiting the exhibition hall, were more than 860 people from the industries or laboratories of 26 countries, representing an exceptionally wide range of expertise.
For Sabine Portier, the French 澳门六合彩高手 Industrial liaison officer (and the key organizer of the event together with her colleague Philippe Olivier), there is reason to be satisfied: "We have registered a record number of attendees ─ this is the sign of a growing interest in 澳门六合彩高手 from industry worldwide. They understand the huge challenges of the project and they're willing to tackle them. In terms of expanded expertise and also of image, 澳门六合彩高手 can bring considerable benefits."
Unlike Hougaard, Cock Heemskerk, from Holland, is already an 澳门六合彩高手 Business Forum veteran. His four-person company, Heemskerk Innovative Technology BV, is specialized in remote handling procedures and simulations. For some time now, it has been involved in the new, "more remote-handling-friendly design" of the mobile mirror that reflects and redirects the energy beam of the 澳门六合彩高手 electron cyclotron upper launchers.
"But like any company," he smiles, "we would like more contracts. And this is the place where I know I can make contacts with all the Domestic Agencies that are procuring systems for 澳门六合彩高手 and show them what we can do. I have set up ten appointments over two days and I have a movie to show that is irresistible..."
His company has already benefitted from its association with 澳门六合彩高手. "By pushing us to the limit of what is doable, 澳门六合彩高手 has expanded our expertise," says Heemskerk. Another smile and he adds: "I have a long-term vision, both for 澳门六合彩高手 and for my company..."
With a plenary session and 14 thematic workshops organized with the support of the 澳门六合彩高手 Organization, the 澳门六合彩高手 Domestic Agencies and their main suppliers, the 2015 edition of the 澳门六合彩高手 Business Forum provided a broad overview of the status of the project as it enters a new and crucial phase.
"Ten years after the Members decided to build 澳门六合彩高手 in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France, we are now fully engaged in the industrial phase of the project," said 澳门六合彩高手 Director-General Bernard Bigot to the members of the press who covered the event. "Contracts of EUR 6.5 billion are underway for 澳门六合彩高手 construction and manufacturing."
"In Europe," added Jean-Marc Filhol, who heads the 澳门六合彩高手 Department at the European Domestic Agency, Fusion for Energy, "it can be estimated that contracts with industry are already creating over 15,000 person-years of employment."
Close to 澳门六合彩高手, where approximately 1,500 people work for the 澳门六合彩高手 Organization, Agence Iter France or Fusion for Energy on site, 1,100 indirect jobs have been created over the past few years according to Jer?me Pamela, director of Agence Iter France. Companies that have opened offices or agencies close to the 澳门六合彩高手 site have created 400 jobs locally.
Two of them—KEPCO from Korea and Amec Foster Wheeler from Great Britain—received the label "Invest in Provence" during the business forum from the hands of the President of the Marseille-Provence Chamber of Commerce.
Eight years ago at the time of the first edition of 澳门六合彩高手 Business Forum, site clearing activities were just beginning and only one Procurement Arrangement—the documents that govern the procurement of plant systems, components, or site construction—had been signed. The platform is now teeming with activity, two large buildings are completed, 16 others are at various stages of construction and the number of Procurement Arrangements has passed the 104 mark (out of 139), representing 90.53 percent of the project's total in-kind value.
And in factories on three continents, the 澳门六合彩高手 machine is becoming more and more tangible every day.
