Montréal, February 28, 2019 – For the third consecutive year, Montréal International (MI) has achieved record results in 2018 in all of its mandates. The economic promotion agency supported over sixty foreign direct investment (FDI) projects totalling nearly $2.5 billion – i.e., $1.5 billion more than in 2015 – and there was a sharp increase in the number of foreign workers hired. The team also supported the success of four international organisation projects in Montréal, and the creation of two new international organisations.
These numbers, which prove Greater Montréal’s economic attractiveness across the globe, were announced at a press conference attended by Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montréal and President of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal.
Foreign direct investment (FDI)
In 2018, Montréal International supported 63 foreign companies in setting up or expanding in the region. These record investments totalled $2.474 billion, a 22% increase compared to 2017 and up 147% since 2015. These projects, which created 5,939 quality direct jobs and maintained 535 jobs, generated significant spinoffs for the metropolitan area that account for 17% of Québec’s economic growth in 2018.
Once again, this year, the high-tech sectors (information and communication technologies, aerospace, life sciences and health technologies) were the economic pillars of Greater Montréal, with investments of $1.536 billion, i.e., 62% of total investments. Within the ICT family, the visual effects, data centre, artificial intelligence and video games sectors are really going strong as they alone account for 35% of investments. The projects are from the Americas (50%), Europe (45%) and Asia (5%).
MI also rolled out efforts in 2018 to attract high-potential foreign entrepreneurs, resulting in meetings with 250 prospects, 35 of whom have already begun the process to launch their startup in Montréal.
Source/Image Credit: http://www.montrealinternational.com/en/news/2019/02/montreal-international-achieves-record-performance-in-2018/
