At the Geneva Motor Show in March, Renault unveiled a new model to the public – the Renault ZOE – a 100% electric car, and at the end of April they announced the creation of an electric sports car, the Renault Twizy. The popularity of environmentally friendly transportation is growing: Today there are more than 5,000 electric cars in France and street cleaners are getting some help from electric street sweepers.

France was the first country in Europe to consider reducing noise and private cars in its cities. The Director of Auto bleue in Nice, Thierry Chiocca, told WEJ: “The city is surrounded by the seashore on one side and mountains on the other three sides. The transportation situation used to be very bad: endless traffic jams, many cars, insufficient parking, and poor environmental conditions. Almost every family in Nice has two cars. In order to reduce them, a decision was made to create a public rental system.” Nice’s Mayor Christian Estrosi, who is France’s former Minister of Industry, said: “If you need a second car, switch to public transport; but if that doesn’t suit you, use Auto bleue, a system that replaces your second car at home.” At almost the same time in Nice and Paris, tenders were issued to develop the rental of public electric cars. In Paris, the Billore Group won, and in Nice, Veolia Transdev and EDF. Veolia Transdev has another project, the Yelo mobile, in the small town of La Rochelle in western France.

Martha Bonifert – Executive Director of REC, in an interview with the World Economic Journal

Global foreign direct investment flows in 2012 fell by 20%. FDI in developed countries dropped a third compared with 2011, whereas it fell by only 3% in developing countries. Vice President of the European Investment Bank Anton Rop discussed the reasons behind these trends with the World Economic Journal.

Life is an exciting thing and difficult times provide great opportunities for business development. One of the most daring businessmen in the world and founder of the Virgin Group, the British Richard Branson talked with the World Economic Journal about helping start-up companies and space exploration.

The Mazzanti Evantra supercar appeared, so to speak, out of thin air. The tiny Italian automaker rarely indulges the public with novelties, but just when you forget about them, another supercar is premiered. The Mazzanti Evantra, however, is a distinctive and cool car that differs from previous models.

By 2015 the emerging markets will have become large and important economies and will stimulate a large portion of the world’s growth. The size of the BRICS economies could triple, reaching $60 trillion. Maria Pinelli, Global Vice Chair of Strategic Growth Markets at Ernst & Young, discussed this in an interview with WEJ.