Two things occurred last Sunday in Paris that set me thinking. As I was strolling outside the Café de la Paix in the Opera district, I was approached by a demure man peddling brochures on the streets. While I usually avoid retail solicitations, it was a lengthy red light on the pedestrian crossing and so I agreed to hear his pitch. It left me astounded. He was the spearhead of a campaign for a Japanese jeans company which had just launched its first retail outlet store in France. I dined that day with a journalist friend, who told me about an Indian wine company that had gone into collaboration with a local company to sell Indian wines to France.
