International Business and Technology Blog

​Opportunities for US companies in Europe abound. They always have and will, the question is one of timing. US exporters to Europe, of both goods and services, achieved an accomplished and steadily growing >$500Bn in 2014. This is inextricable linked to the existing pool of business investment by US companies in the EU. The US is the largest external investor in the EU, with 33% of the total, mostly in the business services and software sectors. US investment in the EU accounts for >50% of all U.S. direct investment abroad and is valued at >$2.5T.

So why are US business executives so much less efficient than Europeans when it comes to getting sales during business trips?

This was the question being considered by Robin Chater, The Secretary-General of the Federation of International Employers (FedEE) in a recent breakfast briefing. He was quoting Eurostat, a respected European statistical agency which showed how in the last year: “the EU exported 288 bn euros of goods to the USA, but only imported 196 bn euros of goods from the USA. The imbalance was narrower, however, when we look at services. EU exports of services to the USA were worth 161 bn euros, yet imports from the USA amounted to 148 bn euros a year…

If you are a business owner, sales and marketing manager or IT manager, the chances are you have become very familiar with your website. Whether or not you find your website clearly structured and understandable, the ultimate judges will always be its end users – your customers, prospects, partners, and employees. A website that is considered friendly by its users is considerably more likely to fulfill its marketing/sales potential and bring in new business. 

We bring you 5 trends that have become crucial for any company that wishes to succeed in Europe and stay ahead of their competition. Don't lag behind!  Read our tips on: design - responsive, flat with subtle animation, user-friendly and online marketing - videos and multilingual marketing on social media.

Want to grow your export and business in Europe? John Worthington, Managing Director of ibt partners presents at the Massachusetts Export Expo on how to develop effective European sales and marketing strategies using the internet.

Every year, the 28 countries of the European Union (EU) suck in 100’s of billions of dollars worth of goods and services from the USA. In 2014, that figure is expected to exceed $0.5 Tn. The EU and the USA remain each other’s largest import/export partners (>$1 Tn annual flow). In this article we are going to drill down into the import of goods (so excluding services, which will be dealt with next month) by the EU from the USA. Firstly, we will ask what are these goods that are so consistently imported (making the EU the #1 market, after Canada, for US exported goods) and secondly which EU countries are doing all that heavy importing…

An active presence on social media is not just a marketing fad, it’s a crucial part of any business’ marketing strategy - the new way how to build your brand and engage with your customers or other target audiences. Many US companies understand the importance of social media as well as importance of country specific websites for each of their key markets. But they are still often unsure about how to manage social media across a number of multilingual markets. Which social media networks are important for my business? Do I need to create a new business profile in each country?  If you’re asking these questions – don’t worry! You’re not the only one and we have answers to that.

Living in the USA, browsing with Google.com, your search results are invariably in English. If you search for a product then Google tells you where to find it locally. The internet is mostly in English, right?

Hot off the press, yes it is official. Eurozone (18 countries) GDP grew by a whole 0.2% in Q3.2014, exceeding expectations by a whopping 0.1% (real optimism there). As you can imagine with that kind of good news we in Europe are all off on a well-earned buying spree, celebrating and adding to our Q4.2014 numbers.

On October the 3^rd, the 7th week-long round of TTIP negotiations closed with the wonderfully named EU Chief TTIP Negotiator, Ignacio Garcia Bercero, stating somewhat blandly (Can we expect more? Yes we can): “We have again had a week of productive discussions. Negotiations are now moving smoothly into the textual phase, where discussions are based on specific textual proposals”.