Amazon, the giant Seattle-based internet retail trader has announced several developments in France. Amazon France is one of the ten existing national retail trading websites. Amazon France announced on October 4 the plan for its fifth, largest French distribution centre at Bowes, near Amiens. The new premises will be completed by 2017 and should generate 750 jobs, of which 500 directly on site. The new premises will measure 107,000 m²

With the launch of the “e-Trade for all” initiative last July by the Unctad, figures were published that underscore the importance of B2B e-commerce. These figures show that the United States are way ahead in the world’s top ten. Detailed figures.

Last week saw Britain announcing at long last the schedule for Brexit – to start before April next and end in 2019. Latest trade figures (July) show that four out of Britain’s five top export destinations were EU member nations. The Chancellor of the Exchequer also warned in Birmingham that business confidence would be on “a bit of a roller coaster” during the negotiations. And the International Monetary Fund has reiterated its sombre view of the consequences of Brexit for world economic growth.

The purchase of digital social network LinkedIn, familiar to most professionals as a job-networking pioneer, by Microsoft (MS), the unavoidable computer giant with its operating system and “Office” software package, for $26.2 billion last June, was its biggest acquisition to date.

Europages has been acquired by German investment fund Paragon Partners, which also owns the “Wer liefert was” (WLW) German B2B online marketplace. The alliance between these two leaders will lead to a range of B2B digital solutions on Europe’s growth markets. This means that Europages’ customers will benefit from even greater visibility and a level of traffic beyond compare. Read on.

Based in Merxheim, Alsace, the French subsidiary of American group Alcoa, Arconic Architectural Products, exports its Reynobond® aluminium composite panels and its Reynolux® pre-lacquered aluminium sheets throughout the world in the construction materials sector. Insights into the strategy adopted by this company, which received a regional export award in 2015 from the Alsace CCI, with its Marketing Director Perrine Prével.

The Transatlantic trade and investment partnership, in its 14th round of negotiations in New York this week, has suffered from highly critical statements by the French and German trade ministers, and the two US presidential candidates. Major events this week were to decide its fate, including a convention of the German SPD party, a statement by US President Barack Obama and the resumption of TTIP negotiation meetings in New York. What does it mean for European and American SMEs, do we need a trade agreement to improve business?

While jobseekers have struggled in many sectors since the global financial crisis, the industry for providing jobs has remained steady. Recruitment has been a growth area for some years now, with the primary effect of economic instability being that it put many agencies off expanding abroad. Now that the climate around Europe is more stable and local businesses are operating with healthy margins, expansion looks to be an extremely compelling prospect.

With its one billion inhabitants, its mega-cities, its English-speaking population, its expanding middle class and the explosion in its consumption, India has become an all-important market for European SMEs. Here are 12 particularly promising sectors.

The United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union (or Brexit) will have negative consequences for European businesses, where certain countries and sectors will be more affected than others. However, some EU countries could also turn the Brexit to their advantage. Here is a status report based on research by trade credit insurance company Euler Hermes.