ITC's vision to develop trade, contained in its Strategy for Africa, rests on boosting intra-African trade flows, promoting networking between trade support institutions, building a positive brand, ensuring that poverty and gender issues are in the mainstream of its activities, and building effective partnerships.

It works with African institutions and reaches out to new players who influence trade and business development in civil society.

Many people now agree that there are clear links between trade and development. Yet the debate continues between those leaning towards a structured approach and those seeking a free rein for creativity in trade development.

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.

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 fi x” or the “quick win”. Many proceed on the basis that if the man is hungry, give him some fi sh. Th is allows the technical assistance provider to show immediate positive results and everyone is happy over the short term. Th e problem is that the man comes back tomorrow, hungry again, but by then the donor may have moved resources on to another “quick win” situation.

Market-driven TPOs support outward-oriented trade and investment policies in successful Asian economies.

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 inefficient and costly bureaucratic structures that offer little support to exporting by private firms. Instead, they advocate rapid import liberalization and competitive exchange rates to stimulate exports.

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.

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 (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.

High-quality packaging is becoming a key to successful competition in the most lucrative developed markets. ITC is spreading both the message and the means for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide to embrace better packaging. ITC’s work in Sri Lanka since the early 1970s exemplifies a turnaround in a country’s packaging industry.

Turkey’s export growth in recent years is an encouraging sign of its economic potential. It is looking to small firms to sustain this growth. To meet the needs of a multitude of new, mainly small and medium-sized export firms, Turkey’s Export Promotion Centre came to ITC for help in revamping its services. Together, they have developed a new approach to training trade advisers for small firms, which is now being used in other countries.

Successful exporting by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can be pivotal in bringing broader prosperity to developing countries, boosting economic vitality at community level and creating sustainable livelihoods for employees and their families. But while globalizing markets offer new opportunities for these small firms, a latticework world of complex regulations, standards and other trade barriers presents a series of formidable obstacles for companies seeking export markets. ITC’s Trade Secrets guides provide information that helps these firms make the leap into international markets.

Bancomext, the Mexican Bank for Foreign Trade, was the first ITC partner organization to produce a Spanish national version of the general guide for first-time exporters with financial support from several donors. It was also the first to produce related guides for specific export sectors.

In August 1998, a young, would-be businessman returned home to Ruritania from a year of language studies in Europe. “They’ve got everything they think they could ever want there,” he told his doting parents. “But what they don’t have is anything like our Ruritanian widgets. A huge market is ready and waiting. All we need to do is convert that little factory down the road to mass production for export and our fortune will be made!” His enthusiasm was infectious. They set up to expand the family firm, ordered state-of-the-art Ruritanian widget-making equipment and hired hundreds of workers. Within a year, more widgets came off the production line in a week than the old factory had turned out for the Ruritanian market in a year and the warehouse was full.

The results of ITC’s work with women in trade are challenging perceptions of the role of women exporters in economic and social development — and the need to support them.

In a joint effort to protect artists and artisans in developing countries from theft of their creative ideas, ITC and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have published a guide full of practical advice.

Relying on foreign direct investment alone is a risky path to export growth. From industrial clusters to contract farming, export production villages and hard business networks, in-country strategy options deserve a second look.

Export strategy-makers devote too much attention to attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) as a means of increasing export capacity and reinforcing export competitiveness.” This was the gist of one proposition presented to the 2002 Executive Forum and the Southern African Regional Executive Forum. It proved to be, as we expected, provocative. In fact, one participant asked if we were joking. We weren’t.

An innovative, sector-based approach to competitiveness focuses on getting more value from goods and services produced for export. Value chain analysis can help developing countries make the most of their exports.

“Staying relevant” are the key words for this issue of Trade Forum. What direction should trade promotion organizations (TPOs) take in turbulent business times, to help their clients remain competitive and stay relevant to them?

In a turbulent business environment, the immensity of commercial opportunity will be matched only by the intensity of competition. Buyers’ positions will continue to strengthen and exporters’ capability to compete will increasingly determine their success. Trade promotion organizations in developing and transition economies need to refocus on competitiveness to help their exporters succeed in the new trade environment.

How best can national trade promotion organizations contribute to trade development and poverty reduction? How best can they contribute to national competitiveness, in a fast-changing trade environment?

How are TPOs meeting the competitiveness challenge of today’s turbulent business environment? Among the solutions they are adopting: public awareness campaigns on the socio-economic benefits of exporting; SME outreach programmes; harnessing technology to improve services and extend networks; new mandates or partnerships for investment promotion; and institutional reform to better meet customer needs.

New trends in international trade mean that TPOs need to reassess to stay relevant to their clients. The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) has, in its own words, focused on essentials — customers’ needs. From new customer satisfaction targets to increased online delivery of services and decentralized operations for a stronger field presence, the organization has reoriented itself around clients’ needs.

Australia is embarking on an ambitious plan to double the number of Australian exporters by 2006 and to increase community support for international trade by raising awareness of the benefits of trade and investment.

TPOs are facing many challenges in a dynamic, fast-changing environment. But there are also opportunities if they can “renovate and reinvent” to remain relevant. Hong Kong’s TPO is one example. After several difficult years, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC) can now foresee a big boost for its exporters after China’s accession to the World Trade Organization. To take exporters forward, TDC has embarked on organizational change while building on its traditional strengths.

Global trends in foreign investment, industry restructuring, the spread of international trade rules and the instantaneous availability of business information on the Internet are moving JETRO’s focus beyond national borders.

The industries and countries that are already aboard the digital train are finding themselves on the fast track to better export performance. But many firms in developing countries are reluctant to get on board for a variety of reasons, ranging from high costs, access and trust to the need to change skills, structures and approaches. TPOs need to reorganize internally and offer new services to help SMEs bridge the digital divide. They also need to cooperate more closely, particularly regionally.

The Information Age means many things to people and organizations (for example, new business processes, more speed, more choice). Above all, it means the Internet. Companies and individuals can find information in many places on the Internet, but a surprisingly large number go to government for information they can trust. One-third of Internet users in the United States seek information from government web sites for business opportunities.

International Enterprise Singapore, or IE Singapore, is the new name of Singapore’s TPO, formerly known as the Singapore Trade Development Board. The new name reflects the new mission: to help Singapore-based companies to grow and internationalize successfully.

"The 4th World Conference of TPOs came at the right time and focused on the right issues — issues that we must all address. There appears to be a consensus that:

• the role of TPOs needs to be reinforced, redefined and made better known;
• TPOs need to constantly reinvent themselves and interact more closely with each other; and
• TPOs have to better articulate the linkages between trade, investment and socio-economic development."

J. Denis Bélisle,
Executive Director, ITC.
Excerpt from closing remarks,
4th World Conference
of Trade Promotion Organizations,
Beijing, China, May 2002

To be competitive in today’s rapidly changing business environment, national export strategies must be redefined and trade support institutions (TSIs) must embrace new roles.

Can the successes achieved by the Uniquely B.C. Creative Arts Show and the Uniquely Canada Show be transferred to a developing or transition country? The experience of Slovenia, whose trade officials hired Barbara Mowat and her team to help them prepare to showcase local crafts internationally, suggests the model is indeed transferable. Peter Hulm interviewed Zdenka Kovac, director of Slovenia’s Small Business Development Centre (PCMG), about the origins of the First Uniquely Slovenia Gift Show held in Los Angeles, California, in July 2001.

Access to finance is still a major limiting factor for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in most countries, and particularly in developing countries. In general, banks refuse credit to SMEs because they are perceived as risky and unprofitable. However, experience in the field shows that SME lending can be profitable and does not necessarily involve more risk for the bank than lending to large enterprises or the public sector.