International Trade Forum articles from January 2004

International Trade Forum archives from January 2004

ITC: 40 years of trade development.(From the Editor)
January 1, 2004... This year, ITC turns 40. So does International Trade Forum, which is ITC's oldest surviving service. Both ITC and its magazine have grown and changed over the years, but both have stayed true to ITC's mission: helping the business sectors of...

The past ten years at ITC ... the secret to success for any technical cooperation agency is to tailor its assistance programmes directly to the needs of its clients and to deliver them efficiently.(40 years of trade development 1964-2004)
January 1, 2004... Ten years ago, the landscape for world trade and trade-related technical assistance changed fundamentally. The creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the advent of the Internet and world-scale competition combined in a manner that...

... And the thirty years before.(40 years of trade development 1964-2004)
January 1, 2004... Principal ITC developments over 30 years 26 Oct. 1962 Proposal for the establishment of an International Trade Information Centre made by the Brazilian representative to the GATT Council. 19 Mar. 1964 GATT Contracting Parties...

Early days at ITC.(Interview)(International Trade Centre)(Interview)
January 1, 2004... As a preview to our end-of-year publication on ITC's 40th anniversary, we've turned to two ITC "historians": Jacqueline Rigoulet and Frederick J. Glover. In this interview they try to communicate what it was like to work in ITC during its early...

... Bridge-building from South to South: Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. But with support from ITC, it is helping Burundi to enter the global market of perfumes.(ITC Today)
January 1, 2004... A company in Haiti--one of the world's poorest and most troubled nations--is a major success on the international market. It is the biggest producer on the planet of a key ingredient of perfumes and industrial fragrances. An entrepreneur in...

The shape of trade to come.(Trade Trends from Davos)
January 1, 2004... Being competitive in today's international marketplace is a complex affair. Trade talks, fighting corruption, outsourcing, value chains, technology and EU enlargement are among the topical issues that affect the shape of trade to come. ...

ITC and the World Economic Forum.(Trade Trends from Davos)(International Trade Centre)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Headquarters in Geneva is not the only thing that the World Economic Forum and ITC have in common. Both organizations see trade as a positive force for development. Both deal with the business sector--people who actually conduct business--as...

At Davos, Doha progress fuels debate: despite the setbacks in Cancun, the Doha Development Agenda still offers opportunities for developing and transition economies--as this survey of the state of world trade talks makes clear.(Trade Trends from Davos)
January 1, 2004... The World Trade Organization's Director-General, Supachai Panitchpakdi, has often described himself as an optimist. A year and a half after he took up his three-year post, he has been touring key capital cities in the last few months in an...

Firms gang up against bribes: companies and multilateral organizations are moving against corruption in business life, bolstering national efforts to stamp out bribery.(Trade Trends from Davos)
January 1, 2004... Corruption, declares the World Bank, is "the single greatest obstacle to economic and social development". President Lucio Gutierrez of Ecuador agrees. "Corruption steals wealth from our own people," he says. "Corruption steals jobs. Corruption...

From outsourcing to worldsourcing: "worldsourcing"--global outsourcing--is benefiting a number of developing and transition economies. It is also fundamentally changing the structure of firms.(Trade Trends from Davos)
January 1, 2004... Some developing and transition economies have recorded local improvements in living standards by supplying the industrial world with products and services that are no longer profitable in high-cost labour economies. Current trends are for firms...

The value chain revolution: a revolution is looming in the world of goods and services procurement. It will fundamentally change the relationships between costs and returns.(Trade Trends from Davos)
January 1, 2004... Most companies, even small ones, understand the supply chain challenge. They realize that they must arrange for supplies to arrive when they need them, process their products as efficiently as possible and arrange for their delivery when they...

Profits for progress? Who is "the responsible consumer", that new and powerful figure in business school lectures and trade negotiations? Someone who buys from a firm that shows "corporate social responsibility", it seems.(Trade Trends from Davos)
January 1, 2004... Responsible consumers--those who want organic products, environmentally friendly manufacturing methods and recyclable beverage containers--remain a minuscule minority of buyers, no doubt. But they represent a significant and growing segment of...

Clearing the data smog: digital technology is a major, often unacknowledged, force in development. With the burst of the dot.com bubble behind, small firms and Asian countries are now poised to take advantage of new technologies. An overload of information, however, remains a major block to using technology for business intelligence.(Trade Trends from Davos)
January 1, 2004... Technology leaders are convinced of the power of "e" to contribute to development. "Information technology is a major educational and economic engine," says John Chambers, Head of Cisco Systems, which supplies networking equipment and network...

New EU countries expand market horizons: on 1 May 2004, ten countries will join the European Union (EU), creating the world's biggest single market. It will offer new opportunities even for those outside the EU.(Trade Trends from Davos)
January 1, 2004... Europe's future dominated many of the discussions at the World Economic Forum's 2004 Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. In March 2000, the European Council in Lisbon agreed on a strategy to make the EU the world's most dynamic and...

Going beyond reading--Forum articles used in training workshops.(Our Readers Write)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2004... My organization, which subscribes to Forum, delivers services to developing country producers to enhance their export skills. As part of a new training workshop we are designing on effective sales missions, we used the article "Business...

Partner with Africa for information and education on trade development.(Our Readers Write)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2004... Thank you for the intellectual revelations Forum has offered me. Most Africans' views on North-South relations, including trade, are anchored in the belief that colonialism was the major cause of African underdevelopment. But your publication...

Reprinting from Forum.(Our Readers Write)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2004... I contribute to our bi-monthly publication, jExporter. We are trying to strengthen it, and I was wondering if JAMPRO could include any of the articles published in the International Trade Forum. Arlene L. Martin (amartin@jamprocorp.com),...

UN Special Adviser Angela King congratulates ITC on "Women in the Global Economy".(Our Readers Write)(Brief Article)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2004... I take great pleasure in sending you this message on your inspiring publication, ITC's Forum magazine on "Women in the Global Economy". The publication was very timely, coming as it did just before the 48th Session of the Commission on the...

Back to Montreux with momentum: ITC's Executive Forum moves back to Montreux, Switzerland this year after three innovative sessions in Cancun (Mexico), Sofia (Bulgaria) and Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago).(Executive Forum)(International Trade Centre)
January 1, 2004... The 2004 debate will be organized so that participating teams will also be able to attend the Fifth World Conference of Trade Promotion Organizations being held in Valletta, Malta on 1-2 October. The theme will be building national competitive...

Extracts from ITC's annual report for 2003.(ITC News)
January 1, 2004... Kenya's first national export strategy "The first National Export Strategy... has been prepared by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in close collaboration with the private sector in Kenya and ITC. "The first phase of this strategy...

PC-TAS: new edition on CD-ROM.
January 1, 2004... ITC's PC TAS (Trade Analysis System for Personal Computers), covering the years 1998 to 2002, is now available. Developed as a market research tool, PC TAS contains the import and export values (and quantities, when available) of trade for...

Canadian exporters get access to TradeMap.(strategic market research and trade development tool.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Through a partnership between ITC and Team Canada Inc., Canadian exporters and trade professionals now have access to TradeMap, a powerful strategic market research and trade development tool. Developed by ITC, TradeMap provides detailed...

ITC provides trade information training and tools.
January 1, 2004... * ITC trained trade information officers from the trade support institutions of Bolivia, Cape Verde, China, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia on managing information services in the evolving digital information environment. The seminar took place...

ITC and WIPO back together in Cuba.(Crafts and Visual Arts)(World Intellectual Property Organization, International Trade Centre)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Encouraged by the success of their first joint Workshop on Legal Protection of Craft Items (Havana, 2001), ITC and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), in association with the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization...

ITC evaluation under way.(International Trade Centre)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... A joint evaluation of ITC has been launched. Led by the Danish International Development Agency (Danida), it is receiving funding support from seven donors and is conducted under the auspices of a "core group" of countries drawn from ITC's...

ITC and WASME offer trade promotion course.(International Trade Centre)(World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (WASME) and ITC joined forces to offer a four-day training course in Geneva (January 2004) on "Developing Effective Trade Promotion Programmes". Attending the course at ITC headquarters...

ITC tools to train export advisers in Turkey.
January 1, 2004... The Turkish Exporters Assembly is embarking on a two-year training project to train SME export advisers in management, exports and applying information and communications technology to trade. Applying ITC's Business Management System, the...

ITC and Bolivia develop trade information action plan.(ITC News)(International Trade Centre)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... In 2003, ITC assessed the demand and supply of trade information services in Bolivia, in close cooperation with trade support institutions in the country. It carried out two extensive surveys, including interviews with 120 exporting companies...

Recent ITC Publications.(ITC Information Products)(information and communications technology)
January 1, 2004... Effective public-private partnership in the information technology sector: How to enhance business and trade capacities 184 pages. Study focusing on the significance of public-private partnership in the area of information and...