Francois LaforestVP French Overseas Territories, EEC-ENGIE New Caledonia

After graduating from the best French business school and a first experience with IBM as a sales engineer, François Laforest moved to New Caledonia in 1992.

From 1992 to 2001, he managed CSP, the New Caledonian subsidiary of Veolia Environment in charge of the cleaning and waste management activities of the New Cal public and private organisations. He also took part in the Pacific development in Australia, New Zealand and French Polynesia.

In 2001, he joined GDF SUEZ group to run SOCOMETRA where he developed electrical installations and maintenance services. In 2010, he was offered the overall management of all the GDF SUEZ subsidiaries in New Caledonia; SOCOMETRA, ENDEL NC - construction company -, COFELY Airport Pacific - facility management of NC international airport.

In 2012, GDF SUEF set up SOMAINKO with two local business partners in order to assist Glencore nickel mine in the Northern part of New Caledonia with industrial maintenance.

Since March 2015, François is in charge of all the ENGIE activities in the Pacific – formerly GDF SUEZ:

• EEC, electricity distribution in New Caledonia;
• ALIZES ENERGIE, thermal and renewable energies in New Caledonia;
• UNELCO - electricity and water production and distribution in Vanuatu as well as EEWF in Wallis and Futuna on top of the four companies we already mentioned.

Those companies account over 1,300 employees with 1150 in New Caledonia for a total turnover of nearly $500 M. Their goal consists in assisting the South Pacific countries with their energy transitions into remote and efficient renewable energies, both for public and private organisations.

In January 2020, François Laforest has been appointed VP French Overseas Territories of ENGIE Cities and Communities’ Solutions.