Signs of the global marketplace

I just bought an inexpensive audio mixer to help with some recording tasks I have. It is sold by a small German firm. I was struck by the User's Manual, which came with instructions in the following languages:

  • English
  • French
  • Spanish
  • Italian
  • Dutch
  • Finnish
  • Swedish
  • Danish
  • Portugese
  • Greek
  • German

Do the businesspeople and merchants in your area understand the importance of providing multilingual instructions if they are trying to sell internationally? Has your economic development organization identified qualified translators to save each business from having to do so? Have you prepared a handout that walks a business through the steps of preparing a product or service for the global marketplace? How will the businesses in your region compete with market-savvy businesses from other countries? Can they do the job right?

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