Lipids&Cosmetics Congress: Introductory speech by Marc-Antoine JAMET

January 26, 2022

opened the Lipids&Cosmetics congress

with the speech of Marc-Antoine JAMET, president of Cosmetic Valley

Find his remarks retracing the strong links with the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, the crossroads of the challenges of the cosmetic perfumery sector with those of this Region and the importance of the 3rd edition of this congress.

3rd “ ^Lipids & Cosmetics” Congress

Speech by Mr. Marc-Antoine JAMET, President of Cosmetic Valley

University of Bordeaux - Wednesday January 25, 2022 – 9 a.m.

Madam Vice-President of the Region, dear Françoise Jeanson,

Mr. Vice-President of the University,

Distinguished speakers,

Dear colleagues, dear friends,

Before saying a word, I would like to thank Françoise Jeanson, whom I do not forget that she was also elected Regional Vice-President in charge of health and doctor, for having recalled the role that was that of companies cosmetics, small, large or medium, when it was necessary, in March 2020, to supply France, its hospitals, its public services, its associations, with Hydro Alcoholic Gel and, particularly, what LVMH did, whose teams knew, the first, import to our country, when there were few or none, masks, respirators, tests on behalf of the State. I also confirm his comments on the economic situation: behind a resilience that has become a recovery, a resistance transformed into a rebound in growth, there are very different situations in our sector and, even if in 2021 overall we posted a rate of growth of 14%, I am thinking of SMEs, beauty institutes, subcontractors who have suffered for 24 months from the economic and social consequences of this health crisis.

To you Mr. Vice-President of the University of Bordeaux, two words as well. This beauty routine that you have described is, for women and men, a source of well-being, self-esteem, fulfillment. Our products are not only dedicated to handbags and bathrooms, they also have their societal importance. Finally, they are the expression of an economic strength, based on European excellence and the French way of life, in a sector where, in the face of increasing and fierce competition, we have remained the leader in supplying France its second trade surplus after aeronautics. That speaks, I imagine, in a city like Bordeaux.

It is time to open this symposium and as a first gesture to congratulate those who attend. We are 200 to follow this congress, half face-to-face, half remotely. For two years, this hybrid mode has characterized all the events of our competitiveness cluster, trade fairs, conferences, congresses, and it has allowed us to continue to work, like this morning, despite the virus and its ravages. It was necessary for the economy and industry not to stop. It is essential that science and progress do not abandon the road of innovation, performance and discovery. There was the governmental "whatever the cost" which was decisive. The determination and dedication of hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs and employees was essential. We must also, on their scale, congratulate the teams of the Cosmetic Valley . My gratitude goes to Soline Godet and Nathalie Simonin, who organized this event and to whom I confirm that I must have received, by e-mail, in the middle of this night again, 3 or 4 invitations to participate in our work - which I didn't mean to pout - and half a dozen messages asking me to print my badge, which I had already done.

I would also like to thank the teams from the University of Bordeaux, a member of the Board of Directors of our cluster, who were able to welcome us with great professionalism and great generosity this morning. A salute also to the University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour, winner in the scientific category, in 2021, of the Cosmetics Victories , a competition where only discovery and intelligence are worth.

I would also like to congratulate your scientific committee which, on lipids, has proposed strong and original lines of work:

- Their importance in skin and hair

- New sourcing

- Their transformation into the formulation

- Improving their characterization.

How could I not salute old and faithful partners like the French Society of Cosmetology and the CNRS, regular like the Agency for Development and Innovation of New Aquitaine, ITERG or the Center for the Valorization of Agro-Resources, plus punctual like our sponsors SAFI CFPA and Gattefossée.

Research does not work for just two days out of 365. In the land of the ocean and canelé, of viticulture and aeronautics, perfumes and cosmetics have managed to find a place for themselves. Here, in our sector, 61 companies, often ETIs, SMEs, start-ups, but also large and beautiful companies, have joined our dynamic, with more than 5,000 employees, 1 billion in turnover, mainly earned on export, having initiated 25 research projects and participated in 45 others. Cheer. To them, to the laboratories, to their researchers, goes my gratitude.

Thanks to them, as in Centre-Val-de-Loire, in Normandy, in Hauts-de-France, in Ile-de-France, in Guyana, in Martinique, in Mayotte, in French Polynesia, and in many other regions, Cosmetic Valley is not a club where business leaders read the newspaper and smoke cigars. Nor is it an association to which one would have to join in order to benefit from its services. I know of some, alas, in the south of France. No, it's a performance laboratory where we seek and where we find. It is therefore not surprising that our 2021 report shows 200 research projects for 400 million euros in assets. They explore technological, ecological and digital transitions. They will help French cosmetics to maintain its position as world leader firmly established in product authenticity, consumer safety, preservation of the planet, innovation performance, these four pillars of "Made in France" that you represent wonderfully and effectively. In a world where we have more and more competitors, in Europe, with Italy of course, our ally, our neighbour, our partner and our rival, the United States with its industrial giants, Japan with its reputation and the support of its public power, Korea and Taiwan with their strike force and their modernity, other emerging ones, we must not stop wanting excellence.

Without betraying the secret of conversations or negotiations, it is this strengthening in New Aquitaine, after we started working in 2013 with Limousin, that we discussed last night for two good hours with Alain Rousset, formidable swordsman when it comes to promoting and defending his region. We did it, thanks to Françoise Janson who watches over us and with Brigitte Closs who not only manages her company, Silab, which she leads to success, but also the territorial governance of our Pole in Bordeaux.

The President of the Region has asked us to take a step towards him and to fight for the reindustrialisation, relocation and independence of supplies of raw materials, for bio-sourcing, his absolute priorities for medicines and his concern for our sector. We told him that on this objective, we would be with him.

But, as in a discussion, there are two parts, on one side and on the other of the table, we too have formulated our wishes, endeavoring not to make an inventory à la Prévert, worse a “list of commissions”.

That cosmetics (which is the parent, but not the twin sister) is no longer confused with health or pharmacy and that it becomes an autonomous strategic orientation of the region.

That we can thus have through an S3 platform with the support of our respective teams in Brussels, Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Cosmetic Valley, together, a real collaboration to take advantage of the support offers offered by Europe to the international, investment, for commission research. 13 years after France exercised its last presidency of the Council of Europe, for the ^13th time that it will exercise it, it would be the right moment and, what is more, a way that by leading the 27 other members of the Union, we got on the train of European Cosmetics, this cluster that we lead, the Global Cosmetic Cluster , driving the locomotive rather than watching the last wagon slip away from the deserted platform. After all, don't we see by reading our badges that there are Belgian and German colleagues among us?

We have found other common ground that we will have to explore:

By forging more short-circuit links with the agricultural sector. It should be our main supplier, especially from the Aquitaine plain, the largest in France. We talked about peonies, immortelles and even prunes! We could have talked about the vine and flax.

By supporting together, hub and region, the creation of the " Cosmetic Valley France " export brand and ensuring that it is recognized by the State, which will benefit from the investment we have been making for 20 years in this denomination.

By drawing the attention of high school students, students, apprentices, to the jobs we could offer them, even if I still hear the words of President Rousset complaining about the social situation experienced by young employees in aesthetics, and attract more people to our professions, which are more diversified and more qualified than we think. Why, for example, not take our “ Cosmetic Experience Tour ” to the New Aquitaine region, via the Futuroscope in Poitiers, the Cité du Vin here or the Comic Strip Museum in Angoulême.

I'm going on and I could cite many other subjects that we have mentioned: inter clustering which would make it possible to create 100% natural products with organic antioxidants, drawn from wood or the sea, to protect lipids through agroforestry or the AgriWastevalue project, bio-mimicry, export strategy, the transversality of incubators. The roadmap would be too long to quote.

A conclusion, before inviting you to join us this evening, at Cap Science, respecting barrier gestures of course, a last wish in a way, the period allows it. Montesquieu, that great Bordelais, had said: “ It is Paris that makes the French ”. May it be Bordeaux, this morning, which, thanks to you, makes cosmetics and France.

Thanks and good work.