Fleur Pellerin has overcome both racism and sexism to find
success in con-servative French political and business circles. At
the invitation of Common-Wealth Magazine, she will make her first
visit to Taiwan in January to take part in the 2017 CommonWealth
Economic Forum.
Fleur Pellerin, a prominent figure whose life spans two nations,
one the land of her birth she has barely known, the other the
country in which she was raised, is the highest-ranking female of
Asian descent to have served in the French government, as well
as the head of a 100-million euro tech venture fund.
Yet people are invariably more interested in hearing about her
background than her talents and capabilities.
Born in Seoul, South Korea in 1973, Pellerin was abandoned as an
infant. At the age of six months, she was adopted by a French
couple. A graduate of the prestigious École nationale
d'administration (ENA), she handled society and digital economy
policy issues for François Hollande during his successful run for
the French presidency in 2012.
That same year, Pellerin became a junior government minister for
small and medium-sized enterprises, innovation and the digital
economy at the age of 39, making her France’s first Cabinet-level
minister of Asian descent.
“Do you really know why you were appointed? Because you’re a
minority? Because of your looks? Because yours is a successful
adoptive family story? Because France wants to make a nice
gesture towards Asia? Or because of your abilities?” Such was
the barrage of questions posed by a male host at the start of an
interview with Pellerin. Clearly, the conservative-leaning,
predominantly white male French political scene was unprepared
to embrace diversity.
In early 2014 she initiated La French Tech, a program aimed at
turning France into fertile ground for startup enterprises. With 200
million euros in French government funding, it designated 13
technology clusters in and around cities such as Paris, Marseille,
and Lyon, and assisted startup businesses with overseas
marketing and promotion.
“The next Google will emerge in France,” she asserted. “As the
digital wave rises, startup enterprises can help stimulate the
French economy and society’s digital transformation, making us
not just consumers but creators.”
The program has so far reaped modest results. According to
market research firm CB Insights, La French Tech ecosystem
grew by 1.39 billion euros of new investment in 2016, second in
all of Europe after only the United Kingdom at 3.13 billion euros,
and exceeding Germany at 1.26 billion euros.
Pellerin became Minister of Culture later in 2014, most notably
playing an instrumental role in the amendment of the country’s
labor law regarding the regulation of professionals in the
performing arts. As a result, the French treasury now saves
around 90 million euros per year.
French labor laws include a special article concerning performing
arts extras (intermittent du spectacle) that allows for out-of-work
cinema, television and theater workers to collect unemployment
payments. The regulations governing these workers are seen as
generally more lenient.
France has around 200,000 professionals in the performing arts.
In recent years, squeezed by financial deficits and budget cuts,
the government progressively raised the unemployment
qualification threshold for performing arts professionals, sparking
protests by workers in the field.
In late 2015, Pellerin was tasked with communicating this difficult
issue to facilitate positive dialogue between the performing arts
union and the government. Although she had left her position as
minister of culture by the time an agreement was finalized in late
April, a French government insider close to the talks says
Pellerin’s contribution was in fact the key to its success.
From Politics to Entrepreneurship
In July of 2016, Pellerin left public service to found Korelya
Capital, a venture fund established to promote Korean investment
in emerging French tech startups and in turn assist their entry into
the Asian market. In September, she secured 100 million euros in
seed funding from the Naver Group, Korea’s largest Internet portal
and parent company of co-investor Line, a popular messaging
application.
Following is our exclusive interview with Pellerin:
CommonWealth (CW): France is known for its extensive out-reach
of culture. How should the way we approach culture and cultural
policies evolve with time
Pellerin: In my opinion, a good cultural policy should tackle two
main issues these days.
First, the issue of access to culture, or in other words, of the
“democratization” of culture. In many countries, access to culture
remains the privilege of select social classes because children
inherit and replicate the habits and practices of their parents.
When I was Minister of Culture in the French government, it was
unacceptable to me. I consider that access to culture and
education has a huge impact on the quality of democracy in
modern societies. To become enlightened citizens, people need
to develop a critical mindset as well as analysis abilities that can
be enhanced by the knowledge of past history and the
understanding of present challenges. I think that cultural policies
should aim at providing all citizens, whatever their social
background, equal access to that sort of skills. I am also
convinced that culture is the cement of a secular society. In
times of religious revival, reaffirming that the social contract is
based on a common historical heritage (our “culture”) as well as
on a common political destiny is critical to maintain social
cohesion.
Second, the issue of digitalization is also key. With the revolution
of the internet, access to culture and knowledge is dramatically
different from what it was twenty years ago. On one hand, it
allows for a broader and more massive access, but on the other
hand, it also induces a mainstreaming of culture. In that context,
how can we promote cultural diversity? How can we make sure to
maintain the expression of local and original creativity?
These are, I think, the main challenges cultural policies are faced
with today.
CW: What contributed to the "La French Tech" initiative in 2014?
What changes have you witnessed as a result of it and what
makes you most proud?
Pellerin: When I was appointed Minister for SME’s and innovation
and the digital economy, I realized that the French tech scene
was highly vibrant but lacked consistency and international
visibility. Lots of actors were working on interesting projects,
without talking to each other and with little acknowledgment from
Government. We needed to gather them under the same banner.
We called this movement the French Tech, to position France on
the map of innovation and technology. Also, I was convinced that
it was urgent to apprehend the tech scene as an ecosystem, and
to tackle many different issues in a holistic manner in order to
really boost digital economy. Among these issues were:
promoting entrepreneurial spirit in education and training, deal
with the “death valley” of financing (not enough late stage funds),
work on a European Nasdaq to have better exit perspectives,
create a better tax environment for entrepreneurs, angels,
investors etc… Today, I am very proud that this initiative is known
throughout the world and helps French companies to expand
abroad but also that the general mindset of the political and
administrative personnel is more open and positive about digital
economy.
CW: What or who motivated you to run Korelya Capital and how
does it choose which kind of startups to support? Why does
Naver invest in Europe?
Pellerin: I met Hae-Jin Lee, founder and chairman of Naver, in
2015. We both share the same long-term vision of the digital
transformation of the world and of such matters as international
tax, digital sovereignty and level playing field issues. When I left
Government in 2016, I had more time to think and to travel. I
went back to Korea. It became clear to me that I wanted to
launch a Venture Capital fund that would bring more than just
money to startups. By joining forces with Naver and its subsidiary
Line, we provide entrepreneurs with the invaluable experience of a
global success story, key technologies and market access in
Asia. At that same time, Naver and Line were seeking for new
opportunities for global market expansion. With my partners at
Korelya Capital in Paris, we aim at identifying and developing high-
potential French and European start-ups in key Internet fields such
as: Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Machine Learning, Deep
Learning, Mapping and E-services.
CW: How can culture and technology complement one another?
Pellerin: One should not oppose culture and technology. On the
contrary, digitalization is an unprecedented opportunity for artists
and creators to gain access to a huge public, or for people to
have an easier access to knowledge and culture. Now, as I said
before, digitalization also brings about some threats:
mainstreaming, uniformization, and also a dramatic change in the
value chain of creative industries (with less revenues for creators
and more for platforms). For political leaders, a big challenge is
therefore to make sure that technology doesn’t kill cultural
diversity.
CW: What do you know about Korea's startups/cultural/tech
communities? What interests you about Korea?
Pellerin: I left Korea 6 months after I was born, to be adopted by
a French family. I returned to Seoul for the first time in 2013, as
a Minister. It was a very powerful and emotional experience. I
became fascinated by this country, its people, its culture and I
now want to learn the language. After a dozen trips, I think France
and Korea have a lot in common, even if it’s not very intuitive in
the first place.
Then Korea’s IT companies are among the most innovative in the
world. Naver and Line are two unique success stories that prove
it and I am sure we can build very strong cross border synergies.
I must also confess that I love Korean Norebang
CW: What do you know about Taiwan's startups/cultural/tech
communities? What interests you about Taiwan?
Pellerin: Everybody is telling me about the dynamism and potential
of the Taiwanese tech scene, so I am very excited to see it by
myself !
Asiatoday
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