International Trade Forum articles from January 2005

International Trade Forum archives from January 2005

More than a new look.(From the Editor)
January 1, 2005... Behind Forum's new look is a new approach to reporting on trade development issues. The approach builds on your feedback to our 40th anniversary publications. We sum up our new emphasis in three words: advocacy, development and topicality....

Do trade promotion organizations boost exports?
January 1, 2005... The recent World Conference of Trade Promotion Organizations shows that TPO leaders are open to innovation, as they explore topics ranging from investment promotion to client relations to performance measurement. New, peer-elected trade...

How TPOs compete: a report on the World TPO conference: at a time of fundamental, accelerating changes in the global economy, leaders of trade promotion organizations from around the world met to discuss their future as players in national trade development and business competitiveness.(Trade Promotion Organizations)
January 1, 2005... Co-hosted by Malta Enterprise and ITC, the 5th World Conference of Trade Promotion Organizations (TPOs) brought together 145 senior managers from 69 countries in St Julian's, Malta, from 1-2 October 2004. The meeting highlighted innovative...

Winning TPOs change with the times: trade promotion organizations (TPOs) in the Republic of Korea, Uganda, Colombia, Jamaica, Australia and Bulgaria have received international awards for their achievements in raising exports. These winners demonstrate that TPOs can make a difference in today's challenging trade environment.
January 1, 2005... Countries that help their businesses compete internationally are more likely to prosper in today's global economy. Trade promotion organizations can play an important role in boosting trade, particularly among small firms. Those most successful...

Have TPOs changed? National institutions are essential to increase trade in a sustainable way. The best trade promotion organizations continue to evolve in a fast-changing trade environment. This is the message in the first of three viewpoints about TPOs.
January 1, 2005... This well-known Chinese proverb is most relevant for any type of sustainable development. Amazingly, it is often ignored by technical assistance providers who, in their haste to do good and be seen to be doing good, often support the "quick...

Whither TPOs? A view from Asia: market-driven TPOs support outward-oriented trade and investment policies in successful Asian economies.
January 1, 2005... Few current trade policy issues are as polarized as the debate over the relevance of trade promotion organizations (TPOs) for developing countries. Some ardent free traders see TPOs (particularly those funded and controlled by the state) as...

Have TPOs moved on since the 1990s? A view from Western Europe: more specialized customer services are being delivered more efficiently through communications technologies. TPOs now need to focus more on exporters of services, since European economies are over 80% based on services.
January 1, 2005... My answer to the question in the title would be yes. "Is there likely to be a market for my white cotton shirts in Paris? Can you help me find someone there to buy them? How do I set about doing it?" These basic questions, posed to me as a...

Exporting textiles & clothing what's the cost for LDCs?(Least Developing Country)
January 1, 2005... The end of quotas in the textiles and clothing industry benefits large Asian producers. Yet other countries also have a stake in the business. The sector plays a major economic role in many least developed countries, especially in Africa, and...

Clothing goes global.(Industry Overview)
January 1, 2005... Today, the clothes we wear may have travelled more than us. The shirt below is a good example. Produced for a large retailer in the United States by a mega company based in Hong Kong (China) with branches in different countries, it embodies the...

Expanding Africa's role in world trade: how can African countries build the expertise to promote their interests more effectively in trade talks and derive gains from the trading system? The three Geneva-based trade development organizations--ITC, UNCTAD and WTO--are working together to boost countries' abilities to play a more active role.(Portrait of Trade Development)
January 1, 2005... When African trade ministers met in Tunis in October 1994, they had a problem on their collective minds. Just six months earlier, most had joined over 100 colleagues from around the globe in Marrakech to sign the Final Act of the Uruguay Round...

Aid agencies buy locally for tsunami relief: aid agencies are buying supplies from Asia and other developing regions following the Asian tsunami in December 2004. ITC's networks of developing country suppliers are playing a role.(ITC News)
January 1, 2005... Agencies and firms that haw. participated in ITC buyers-sellers meetings over the past several years are tapping their new networks and skills to provide emergency and reconstruction supplies and simultaneously bolster development efforts. ...

Raising awareness of services export potential: there are strong prospects for trade in services, particularly between developing countries. Over the past few years, ITC has refocused its activities in this sector to help countries take advantage of new opportunities.(ITC News)
January 1, 2005... Services represent 40% of exports in many developing countries. In five years, this is expected to jump to 70%, with business and professional services representing the lion's share. Most of the opportunity lies in trade among developing...

Dispute resolution: managers meet for first time: in a worldwide first, ITC brought together managers of new and well-established arbitration and mediation centres to discuss the challenges of running a centre. They left with new ideas to tackle common problems as well as new training and cooperation initiatives.(ITC News)(International Trade Centre )
January 1, 2005... Bringing business disputes to court takes time and money, and may be too much in the public eye. Even though arbitration and mediation centres can offer firms a faster, confidential solution, they have their own problems, particularly in...

Fast-track fund for Asian Trade Development.(ITC News)
January 1, 2005... In Asia, 19 developing countries and two regional organizations stand to gain from fast-track access to trade-related technical assistance, in a three-year, 5 million (euro) programme financed by the European Commission (EC) and ITC. The aim is...

Export strategy consultations in 2005.(Executive Forum)
January 1, 2005... In 2005, ITC's Executive Forum is working with its network in a new series of two-day sessions to spot best practices in national export strategy and bring them to the attention of others. Over 60 countries are expected to participate in these...

Does trade-related technical assistance work? ITC made the case for the trade development and sparked debate at the latest informal meeting of its Joint Advisory Group.
January 1, 2005... ITC projects are helping countries increase jobs and income among poor communities, making South-South trade a reality, helping African countries integrate into world trade and boosting exports from Bolivia and Ghana. ITC made the case for...

New agreement with Djibouti to develop tourism.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Djibouti's Minister of Commerce, Industry and Artisanal Products, Saleban Omar Oudine, signed an agreement with ITC to develop the country's tourism sector in December 2004. Government studies with the World Tourism Organization in 1999...

Trade information training events.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Strategic Market Analysis for International Business Development. The seminar is designed for market analysts and information managers in trade promotion organizations and chambers of commerce, as well as for private sector professionals in...

Creative approaches to reducing poverty.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... Gilberto Gil Moreira, Brazil's Minister for Culture, visited ITC in January 2005 to learn about ITC's work to promote exports in creative industries. Many creative industries employ poor people, and the Government of Brazil is looking at...

Product Map: new partners, more users for online market analysis.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... ITC's trade information and market analysis tool Product Map, which helps identify priority export sectors, has tripled the number of users since its launch in 2002. This web-based tool, consisting of 72 industry portals, notched up 18,000...

New ITC site answers coffee questions.(International Trade Centre)(http://www.thecoffeeguide.org)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2005... ITC is updating its 330-page book, Coffee--An exporter's guide, published in late 2002, and adapting it to a web site version. The site http://www.thecoffeeguide.org became available in April 2005. In addition to the coffee guide text, the...

Thesaurus of International Trade Terms.(New Books and Technical Papers)
January 1, 2005... Revision 4. 166pages. (Technical Paper). Thesaurus intended to trade information services in developing countries, to be used for bibliographical description and indexing of information material and sources, in both printed and electronic...

Environmental Industries: Country Profile--Trade Opportunities Germany: 2004.(New Books and Technical Papers)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... 115 pages. (Technical Paper). Survey of the environmental industry (EI) in Germany and of the international demand for EI, focusing on trade opportunities for developing countries. Reviews Germany's general economic environment; examines its...

TPO Best Practices: Strengthening the delivery of trade support services.(New Books and Technical Papers)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... 108 pages. Collection of practical experiences and best practices of trade promotion organizations (TPOs) in various countries of the world--provides case studies of best practices related to core services of trade support institutions;...

Purchase an End-Result! Guide to performance-based purchasing for government and private buyers.(New Books and Technical Papers)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
January 1, 2005... 169 pages. Technical guide intended for government and private purchasers who manage purchases of strategic dimensions--introduces the basic notion of performance requirement and discusses methods for achieving it; analyses in detail purchases...