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When I graduated from my business school, I fell straight in at the deep end of the export business. At Dassault Aviation I discovered high-tech industry when my mouth dropped open like a kid at the sight of 30 Mirages waiting to be delivered! In 1982, I joined the Group's Cooperation department and had a tough time as a green salesman faced with experienced customers who could do deals in their sleep; I soon learnt to be modest.

Next, at Airborne Systems I was on the Jakarta-Bandung run in prop aircraft with holes in the floor, cockroaches and frequent crash landings. On the ground, there were hours of non-air-conditioned bargaining with opposite numbers working for organisations as dense as a tropical forest. There I learnt what bureaucracy really means.

Then I joined Thales International as Deputy Director Asia. Later on, I wanted to see more of the civil side.
Competition is tough. There have been times in China when landing the contract was only half the battle: in the evening you have to join in the karaoke!Après mes études commerciales, je tombe très tôt dans la "grande marmite" de l'export.