Useful Sites # 120 about Country Rankings, Russia, Customs Rulings, Global Widgets and Demographics


	Wednesday, September 28, 2005	Issue 120	Volume 5 Number 20

TELL A FRIEND

IN THIS ISSUE:
.	A CLARIFICATION
.	RUSSIA -- OUR FEATURED COUNTRY
.	CUSTOMS RULINGS ONLINE SEARCH SYSTEM
.	GLOBAL WIDGETS
.	WEB FREE LOOKUPS
.	FITA CAREER HEADQUARTERS - FEATURED JOB - VIRGINIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP

Hello International Traders!

In this issue, I have a site that will help you do the research to increase your business in the Russian market. I've also got a link to a site with U.S. Customs Rulings, so you can stay abreast of that agency's decisions. Want to customize your Web browser's startup page? I have a site that will help you put all the information you need on your browser. Finally, I have a site with free demographic information about any community in the U.S.

And don't forget -- if you'd like more information about international trade, go to FITA's Really Useful Links ( http://fita.org/webindex/index.html ), which has a link library of more than 8,000 sites related to international trade.

A CLARIFICATION

http://www.worldbank.org/data/quickreference/quickref.html

In the last issue I profiled India, and I said it was the world's 4th largest economy. An alert subscriber pointed out that India's economy is ranked 12th. That got me thinking, so I did some research and found that there's more than one way to rank a country's economy. There's some information on this at the World Bank's "Quick Reference Tables" ( http://www.worldbank.org/data/quickreference/quickref.html ), which does country rankings.

Basically, the World Bank is saying that the relative size of economies depends on the specific indicator plus the method used to convert local currencies to U.S. dollars. For instance, if you look at Gross Domestic Product (GDP), you should know that it's measured in current U.S. dollars at annual market exchange rates, in which case the World Bank rates India as the 10th largest economy. If you look at the World Bank's own "Atlas" method, rankings are determined by a combination of Gross Domestic Product plus the net flows income such as rents, profits, and labor income from abroad. The Atlas method smoothes exchange rate fluctuations by using a three year moving average, price-adjusted conversion factor. Using the Atlas method, India is ranked as the 11th largest economy. One other method used by the World Bank for ranking is Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), where India IS indeed ranked as 4th.

RUSSIA -- OUR FEATURED COUNTRY

http://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/country/rusfed.cfm

Although Russia has gone through much turbulence since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the country has had some encouraging economic news in recent years. Russia has had five years in a row of economic growth, averaging more than six percent growth annually. Exports grew to US $162 billion in 2004, while imports were at US $92 billion. That's positive news for trade, and if you want to research trade opportunities with Russia, go to the Russia Report at BISNIS ( http://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/country/rusfed.cfm ). Scroll down the page and you'll find information about trade events, legal and regulatory reports, guides to doing business in Russia, industry reports, and other items of interest (e.g., Standard & Poor's ratings of Russian local and regional governments). You can click on the map to find region-specific news, reports, and links within Russia.

Another good resource is the Russia Mini Portal ( http://fita.org/countries/russiaportal.html ), one of the new features at the FITA site. The Mini Portal is a good place to start your research. There is an overview of the country, with facts about the language, currency, climate, etc., plus more specific information about the economy, Russian markets, taxes, labor market indicators, tips on doing business, and a search engine to help you find market research on the Internet. There's also a news feed with the latest Russian news.

Click on "Useful Links" and you'll find a variety of sources for market research, trade leads, business directories, logistics, government contacts, travel, financing, and lots more.

The Russia Mini Portal is one of many research gateways at the newly redesigned FITA site. To find Mini Portals for other regions or countries, just click on "Country Profiles" from within a Mini Portal, or at the FITA home page ( http://www.fita.org).

FITA's Global Trade Book Store has many excellent books about doing business in Russia. Check out From Nyet to Da: Understanding the Russians, Culture Shock!: Moscow At Your Door, and The Guide to Business Information on Russia, the Nis and the Baltic States among others. And the U.S.-Russia Business Council, The Russian-American Chamber of Commerce, U.S.-Russia Chamber of Commerce of New England, the Council for Trade and Economic Cooperation, the Mid-Atlantic Russia Business Council, and the Foundation for Russian-American Economic Cooperation are FITA member associations. Check out their websites for more resources about doing business with Russia.

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CUSTOMS RULINGS ONLINE SEARCH SYSTEM