Introducing our new Trade Forum magazine
It is a great pleasure to present to you the first edition of the restructured International Trade Forum magazine. We hope that the online version will become a greater forum for dialogue to promote and facilitate "Export Impact for Good". The International Trade Centre is in the business of helping small businesses in developing countries connect effectively with the global marketplace. By building knowledge and skills, we aim to increase export activity and grow community outcomes in places most in need. This January issue brings views of top trade experts on understanding consumer attitudes, and addressing challenges of the current contraction in global markets. The next online edition will look more closely at environment, ethics and consumer conscience. We encourage you to use the comments feature available for each of the articles and share your views.
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Enabling the Entrepreneurs
By Grant Aldonas, former US Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade
Understanding global sourcing and supply chains may be the solution in export markets that are no longer geographic.
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Time for Strategic Planning
By Alex Brigham, Executive Editor, Ethisphere
While the world economy is slowing down, exporters from developing countries should be positioning themselves for the recovery and a boost in ethical trade.
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Fair Trade ‘Will Survive’ Economic Crisis
Organic, fair trade and ethical products will keep their market, despite today’s volatile, unpredictable economic climate, suggested keynote speakers at ITC’s World Export Development Forum in Montreux, Switzerland, in October 2008. The market for such goods will likely take a temporary hit, but will bounce back, they predicted. In fact, the sector continues to be a good investment.
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The Wheels of Trade Finance
By Patricia R. Francis, Executive Director, ITC
While bailouts for banks and help for homeowners hit the headlines daily, scant regard is given to the grit in the engine of growth: access to trade finance. The narrow focus during this wave of the financial crisis as it hits homes in developed markets obscures the tsunami that threatens trade at a time when we simply cannot afford to see trade flows stall.
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Tomorrow’s Trade Promotion Organizations
By TSI Strengthening Team, ITC.
To stay abreast of the ever-changing commercial environment, Trade Promotion Organizations (TPOs) are retooling and recalibrating for the future. TPOs have proven their worth over the last decade in the rapidly changing nature of world trade. A recent study found that TPOs have a ‘strong and statistically significant impact on exports’. After examining 104 TPOs around the world, the study estimated that, on average, each $1 spent on export promotion led to a $40 increase in exports.
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Bringing Down the Trade Barriers
By Rajesh Aggarwal, ITC
Helping small exporters in developing countries adapt to new global trade condition. How to overcome the difficulties of small to medium-size enterprises (SMEs) taking up global market opportunities was central to discussions at an ITC-moderated session at the WTO Public Forum in September, where two key messages emerged.
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Reducing the Middlemen in Food Aid
In September this year, the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) announced that it will begin buying surplus crops from low-income farmers in 21 African and Central American countries in a project that could transform the mechanics of food aid.
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Forecast for Boom in Green Jobs
Tens of millions of new jobs could be created around the world by the development of alternative energy technologies over the next few decades, according to a report by the UN’s Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Labour Organization (ILO).
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Hands Across the Spanish-Speaking World
Spain signed an accord with the ITC in July, to help develop the export potential of small- and medium-sized businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean. The funds are being used to strengthen business capacity, competitiveness and strategy. It is the first time since 1997 that Spain has contributed to the ITC.
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Latest Publications
ITC continues to publish a range of books, technical papers, newsletters and marketing materials that are widely sought by readers.
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