NEWS COVERAGE - FRANCE

ECONOMY AND BUSINESS NEWS FROM THE PAST WEEK

Business Sweden, Paris
July 17th, 2014
BUSINESS SWEDEN 18 JULY, 2014 2
THE PAST WEEK
AIRBUS has recorded orders for more than $ 75 billion
and purchase commitments for 496 aircraft, during the
Farnborough Air Show
Jean-Claude Juncker was elected European
Commission president on Tuesday.
Big disagreement in Brussels concerning other top
posts like the European Council president
Microsoft to shed 18,000 employees within a year
Big hit for Nokia and Finland
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down on
Thursday afternoon in eastern Ukraine killing all 298
people on board
The jet was brought down with a surface-to-air
missile.
Kiev claims to have intercepted phone conversations
among rebels discussing a strike that took down the
aircraft.
BlaBlaCar with 8 million users in Europe now hopes to
become an international success
The investment is the largest ever for a French startup
and according to the Financial Times this indicates a
valuation of 1 billion USD for the company.
The investor is Index Ventures
Europe's leading venture capital firm in the technology
sector
Has previously invested in Swedish IT like Skype,
Rebtel and King
The name BlaBlaCar is aimed at the small talk that
occurs during a car ride.
Passengers and motorists start profiles on the site
and can rate each other based on how talkative you
are.
"These $ 100 million gives us the resources to explore
every major market in the world"
Nicolas Brusson, COO of Blablacar
Passengers pay for gasoline and other costs. Which is
enough for the drivers to be happy, but too little for it to
be considered as a taxable gain as is the case with
Uber.
BlaBlaCar has not yet expanded into Scandinavia. The
service is currently available in France, Benelux,
Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Spain, Ukraine and the
United Kingdom.
BUSINESS SWEDEN 18 JULY, 2014 3
FRENCH START-UP RAISES 100 MILLION USD
The number of small and medium sized Swedish
companies with exports to emerging countries has never
been as great
Increasing by 4 percent from 2012
Means that 5,119 small and medium sized companies
exported to emerging markets.
Many EU countries have stagnated, more companies
see opportunities outside Europe
Carl-Johan Karlsson, Head of EKN
Small businesses are companies with 10-49 employees,
and medium-sized enterprises are those with 50-249
employees.

In the report half of the 700 companies interviewed say
that "Sweden" as a brand gives their business a
competitive advantage.
Swedish trade as a whole increased during the quarter:
Exports + 1.7%
Imports + 3%
BUSINESS SWEDEN 18 JULY, 2014 4
RECORD NUMBER OF SWEDISH SME:S EXPORTING TO
EMERGING MARKETS
A report by Bercy, which was not supposed to be
published, sifts 37 professions to determine whether they
benefit from extra high profits or not.
The combined turnover of these thirty-seven professions
amounted to
235 billion in 2010,
Their profit EUR 42 billion
Their added value is equivalent to 6.4% GDP
"Net profits before taxes represents on average 19% of
their turnover, which is 2.4 times the return found in the
rest of the economy.
According to the report, income is not proportional to the
level of education nor justified by taking a particular risk.
Indeed, the professions concerned have a failure rate of
0.8%, against a national average of 1.4%.

An exception "which is explained in large part by the
numerous clauses which protects some of them, says
Les Echos.
Over the period 2000-2010, their income increased by
46% and added value of 53.7%
While GDP grew only 34.6%.
Reforms are intended to:
Take away monopolies or change the setting of tariffs
Generate to lower prices with 10-20% in the sectors
concerned

BUSINESS SWEDEN 18 JULY, 2014 5
37 PROFESSIONS BENEFIT FROM EXTRA HIGH PROFITS
http://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-services/air-defense/0203647710374-airbus-realise-une-moisson-de-contrats-historique-a-farnborough-1025573.php
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6a81e2be-0db1-11e4-b149-00144feabdc0.html#axzz37j3ihnBX
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7babac34-0184-11e4-9750-00144feab7de.html#axzz37j3ihnBX
http://www.di.se/artiklar/2014/7/2/pengaregn-over-fransk-bilsajt/
http://www.svd.se/naringsliv/tillvaxtmarknader-lyfter-smaforetagens-framtidstro_3691808.svd
http://abonnes.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2014/07/15/un-rapport-de-bercy-pointe-du-doigt-les-rentes-de-certaines-professions-reglementees_4457324_3234.html









BUSINESS SWEDEN 18 JULY, 2014 6
SOURCES