French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday unveiled an ambitious economic plan comprising massive state investment and aid to the housing and auto industries worth some 26 billion euros (32.84 billion dollars), DPA reported. Speaking in the northern industrial city of Douai, Sarkozy announced a broad variety of measures, including a vast public works program worth 10.5 billion euros over the next two years and a series of state refunds to private enterprises worth 11 billion euros. What the French president described as a plan of "accelerated public investment" will include the renovation of prisons, hospitals, military facilities and transportation infrastructure. It also calls for a number of "grand projects," such as the construction of university campuses and several new high-speed TGV rail links, including a trans-Alpine line connecting Lyon with the Italian city of Turin that has been in the works for years. In addition, largely or partly state-owned companies, such as the energy suppliers EDF and GDF, are to invest 4 billion euros in 2009 and 2010, much of it on research into renewable energies. The state payments to French industry would consist largely of refunds of Value Added Tax (VAT) and research credits paid one year ahead of time. The money is to be used for new investment, Sarkozy said. In addition, the plan earmarks 1.8 billion euros for the French housing sector. That would cover the construction of 70,000 new housing units, half of them public. Sarkozy also announced a series of measures for the country's ailing auto industry, including 1 billion euros for a line of refinancing to enable carmakers to provide credit to potential car purchasers.
