PARIS (AFP) - The French government said it would offer companies tax breaks and other incentives worth more than one billion euros (1.2 billion dollars) to encourage them to keep jobs in the country rather than outsource them.
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said that 20 "competitiveness zones" would be designated in which companies would be offered reductions in corporate tax totalling 250 million dollars a year for three years if they guarantee not to move jobs abroad.
Economy Minister Nicolas Sarkozy is to announce other measures, including the waiver of social charges, when he presents the 2005 budget next week.
Additional benefits will raise the incentives on offer to a billion euros, Raffarin told reporters.
"The main point... is the launch of a national effort against outsourcing. This is essential for the preservation of jobs," he said,
The competitiveness zones, defined geographically, are to be announced "in spring 2005."