RYANAIR'S EXPERIENCE of doing business in France has been "superb", the airline's deputy chief executive Michael Cawley told a conference in Dublin yesterday on doing business in Provence.

Mr Cawley said France had a reputation for not being as friendly towards business as other European countries "but that is not what we have found". Other countries had a better reputation but "France delivers on the ground, in our experience".

Mr Cawley told the conference of Irish and French businesspeople that Ryanair had an excellent relationship with Marseilles airport, where it was developing a base for flights to and from Ireland, the UK, other European destinations and Morocco.

The airport had approached Ryanair and the two now worked together as partners, he said.

The conference heard that Marseilles is well advanced in the multibillion-euro development of a new office, retail, leisure and residential centre in an area of its old port. The city, which has a population similar to Dublin's though with a further one million people living in its immediate hinterland, is seeking to attract increased foreign investment.

Philippe Savinel, chief executive of Marseilles-based Ricard, and a former chief executive of Irish Distillers, said Marseilles had set itself the goal of becoming one of the top 20 European cities from a business point of view.

"Provence is not just about sunshine, quality of life, sport, food and culture, it is also about business," he said.

The city has the largest port in southern Europe. It is developing as a hub or "competitive cluster" for a number of commercial activitites including information technology, aeronautics, micro-electronics and logistics.

It is the second-most popular destination, after Paris, for companies, including foreign companies, choosing to set up in France.

International pension funds have invested in the renovation of central Marseilles, in what is one of the largest urban renovation projects in Europe.