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FORBES

Forbes launches French edition to chart Macron’s ‘startup nation’

Business magazine Forbes, famous for its annual ranking of the world's wealthiest, is launching a French edition to chart President Emmanuel Macron's progress in turning his country into a "startup nation".

Published: 6 October 2017 08:43 CEST
Forbes launches French edition to chart Macron's 'startup nation'
Photo: AFP

Forbes is a fortnightly magazine but the French-language edition, which will hit newsstands Friday, will be published only every three months.

The first issue will retrace the 100-year history of the publication and look ahead to the next 100 through interviews with business magnates including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and French internet billionaire Xavier Niel.

France has a reputation for being a place where it is difficult to do business and for being sniffy towards the self-made.

Forbes first stuck a toe in the market last year by launching a French-language website.

“Many people say France is becoming the 'startup nation' and the discourse is changing. We have a president who is promoting entrepreneurship and free enterprise,” Dominique Busso, the media entrepreneur behind the venture, told AFP.

“We must not be afraid to say that you can succeed in France, nor have fear of failure,” Busso said, echoing former investment banker Macron, who has said
he wishes more young French people dreamed of becoming billionaires.

The French magazine is being produced under licence from Forbes.

It will contain some material translated from the American edition but give pride of place to local content.

The first issue will have a print run of 100,000 copies.

BUSINESS

Forbes: Sweden is the best. Swedish business: No it’s not

Sweden is the best country in the world in which to do business, according to a new ranking by US magazine Forbes. But Sweden's main business lobby says the country's success is overstated.

Published: 27 December 2016 13:58 CET
Forbes: Sweden is the best. Swedish business: No it's not
Spotify founder Daniel Ek speaks to the Stockholm Tech Fest. Photo: Magnus Hjalmarson Neideman/SvD/TT

The business magazine heaps praise on Sweden, which it says has “undergone a transformation built  on deregulation and budget self-restraint”.

Forbes credits the former centre-right government's benefit cuts and tax cuts with stimulating employment, it points to the country's growth rate of 4.2 percent in 2015, its low level of public debt and its trade surplus. It also mentioned the country's burgeoning startup scene, with music streaming service Spotify and gaming company King cited as good examples.

While Sweden has shot up Forbes' list from 17th place in 2006, the US has slid from the number one ranking a decade ago to 23rd place today.

But Sweden's main business organization, the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, poured cold water on the claims.

“There are plenty of advantages to running a business in Sweden, but it feels like an exaggeration to say that it's the best country overall,” the confederation's economist Jonas Frycklund told Dagens Nyheter. “It's hard for an outsider to get the whole picture,” he said.

Frycklund said that Forbes focused on large companies, whereas it was difficult for small companies in Sweden to grow. Sweden, he added, was living on the fruits of reforms from the 1990s and early 2000s, but that the country needed further reforms to maintain its position. Asked for other countries that he admired, he pointed to Switzerland's competitive industries and Singapore's focus on deregulation and free trade.

Sweden was named the world's sixth most competitive economy by the World Economic Forum earlier this year.