© International Trade Centre, International Trade Forum
- Issue 1/2002
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.
To be effective, a national export strategy must be
comprehensively integrated into a country's overall economic
planning framework. It should not simply deal with developing
commercial opportunities in international markets. It should also
encompass the longer-term "border-in" challenge of establishing a
national competitiveness framework which would create an export
culture, sharpen business competitiveness, and develop new export
industries.
As our discussions in the ITC Executive Forum over the past
three years have shown, you ignore the issues of an enabling
environment at your peril. Even small enterprises working with
artisanal products have found that participating in foreign trade
fairs can require them to change their attitudes. It is not just a
question of access. You have to focus on making sure you have a
product that people want to buy before you embark on an
international sales campaign. And governments can help you make the
adjustment by finding the right "tutor" in international marketing.
"Border-in" has to come before "border-out". And one of the major
complaints of businesses in developing and transition economies is
their lack of access to finance, locally as much as
internationally.
Therefore, artisanal products and financing options are also the
focus of our special section on trade support networks, looking at
how ITC and professional "tutors" can help even this sector perform
better in the exporting world. In these introductory sections, we
offer a close-up look, which we hope will enable you to cast an
informed eye on the discussion in the following pages of how a
national export strategy can be planned, implemented and monitored
for effectiveness.