France, Alain Afflelou Awarded for His Business

Yesterday evening in Paris in the presence of the French prime minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, and numerous industrialists, Alain Afflelou, the French entrepreneur who founded his own optical products retail chain, received the Chaptal de l'Industrie. Named after the scientist, Jean-Antoine Chaptal, the award is given to those who make innovative contributions to their specific areas of activity. The Société d'encouragement pour l'industrie nationale, which awards the prize, nominated Afflelou because of his development of an innovative and stimulating company that now consists of 500 outlets and has a 12% share of the French market.

The French businessman was visibly moved during his speech, but accepted the award without any false modesty: 'I deserve it', he said. Afflelou also said he agreed with the other entrepreneurs about inviting the French government to go ahead with the reforms, but he emphasized that the law on the 35-hour working week would not stop the development of his company.