Le Havre Smart Port City, a local ambition
The die is cast ! Last 25th April, the Le Havre Smart Port City application was submitted to the General Secretariat for Investment (SGPI), a government agency under the direct authority of the Prime Minister.
The objective is to integrate the shortlist of approximately fifteen urban areas which answered the call of the PIA 3 (Programme d’Investissements d’Avenir) to obtain financial support for innovation and investment in the area. Le Havre Smart Port City relies on approximately twenty initiatives, for a total amount of € 241 million. These initiatives take into account all industrial, port, and urban aspects, and their variety highlights the wide scope of this project.
The main areas of development for the Le Havre area and the Valley of the Seine area are energy, mobility, attractiveness and competitiveness in the area, community services and social innovation, and data. Ten projects have benefited from the financial support of the Deposits and Consignments Fund (CDC), for a total amount of € 24 million, and twelve others have benefited from other subsidies, for a total amount of € 10.5 million.
While the final presentation is scheduled for next July, the first positive result of the development phase of this project is the emergence of a collective dynamic which is still going strong 18 months after its genesis.
It did not take long to convince local industrial stakeholders, gathered together under Synerzip – LH, and the University community of the importance of this ambitious project for the area. In addition to local stakeholders, Le Havre Smart Port City has also managed to gather major international corporations – such as Nokia, Orange, or Cisco – as well as several start-ups – such as Sinay, or Les Apaches – showing that the ambition to transform the area goes far beyond the boundaries of the Valley of the Seine. Over 75 institutions have expressed their full support for the actions carried out by Le Havre Seine Métropole and HAROPA – Port of Le Havre.