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BUSINESS

French food group to send baby formula to USA

French food group Danone said on Friday it would send an additional 500,000 packages of medical-grade baby formula to the United States, currently stricken by shortages, by the end of June.

Published: 27 May 2022 17:26 CEST
French food group to send baby formula to USA
Photo by DENIS CHARLET / AFP)

A spokesman said the packages of the Neocate brand formula for babies with allergies to cow’s milk should be available to distribute to families at the beginning of July.

The spokesman said Danone had more than doubled shipments of Neocate to the United States in recent months, but declined to provide a figure.

Scarcity of medical-grade baby formula in the United States caused by production problems and supply-chain issues has created grave problems for thousands of parents whose infants rely on it, sending them in frantic searches for the product.

The United States has even used its military planes to help speed up exports from Europe.

Danone’s rival Nestle shipped 31 tonnes of baby formula to the United States on Sunday.

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TECH

‘3,000 new jobs’: Microsoft and Amazon to invest billions in France

Microsoft on Sunday announced €4 billion in investment for developing data centres in France, joining fellow US giant Amazon in committing to the country's tech infrastructure.

Published: 13 May 2024 08:36 CEST
'3,000 new jobs': Microsoft and Amazon to invest billions in France

The announcements came on the eve of the seventh Choose France Summit, the aim of which is to attract foreign investors to the country. Macron will host it at the Chateau of Versailles near Paris.

Microsoft’s president Brad Smith told AFP the move to strengthen its artificial intelligence and cloud computing infrastructure was the tech giant’s biggest-ever investment in France since its arrival 41 years ago.

France’s “longstanding commitment to carbon-free energy markets” and its status as a “critical leader” in Europe explained the decision, Smith said.

A new data centre will be created in eastern France, while existing sites in the Paris region and the southern city of Marseille will be expanded.

E-commerce behemoth Amazon will invest more than €1.2 billion in France, creating more than 3,000 jobs, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said earlier on Sunday.

The money will help develop Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) cloud infrastructure, mainly generative artificial intelligence, and the logistical infrastructure of its parcel delivery service, a statement added.

Amazon did not respond to approaches by AFP on Sunday, having recently said it did not want to make any comment ahead of a possible announcement that would be made at the event.

The US company has already announced the creation of 2,000 new jobs in France in 2024, which would bring its staff workforce in the country up to 24,000 by the end of the year, mainly in its logistics centres.

AWS is a key subsidiary of the group, having made $25 billion worldwide in the first quarter, capitalising on the growing appetite among businesses for remote computer and artificial intelligence services.

As Choose France prepared to get under way, several pharmaceutical groups, including US group Pfizer and Britain’s AstraZeneca, announced on Sunday commitments to invest more than a billion euros more in France’s health sector.

The largest industrial project announced so far is a potential fertiliser factory, which could significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

European consortium FertigHy is to announce it is looking at investing €1.3 billion into a factory in the Somme region in northern France, Industry Minister Roland Lescure told France’s La Tribune Dimanche newspaper.

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