|
|
| Wednesday, July 24,
2002 |
Issue 38
|
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 15
| | |
|
WELCOME
http://www.fita.org/
Here's your latest issue of
Really Useful Sites for International Trade
Professionals. This free bi-weekly newsletter reviews
useful Web sites from the Web Resources database at FITA's International Trade/
Import-Export Portal at www.fita.org, an excellent
source for trade leads, news, events, and a link library
of 7,000+ sites related to international trade.
My name is John McDonnell, and for years I've
been writing about useful Web sites for businesspeople,
in various publications. Now I've focused on
international trade, using my Web research skills to
find sites that are useful for international
businesspeople, and some sites that are just plain fun
for anyone.
Here are the
sites:
|
TWO
STATS SITES
http://www.aneki.com/
I write this newsletter in
English, but if I wanted to reach a bigger audience, I'd
have to write it in Mandarin Chinese. That's because
there are 1 billion users of Mandarin Chinese in the
world, which is almost double the number of people who
use English (and English is only slightly ahead of
Hindustani). I found this interesting fact at the aneki.com
site, which has bite-sized information about all the
countries of the world, including categories like
Richest, Most Populous, Most Expensive, Cleanest, etc.
The information is from publicly-accessible sources like
the CIA World Factbook, but it's presented in an
easy-to-use format.
Globastat at
www.globastat.com is another site that uses CIA World
Factbook data. It's not as visually appealing, but has
more detail.
|
OUR
FEATURED COUNTRY SITE -- CHINAGATE.COM
http://www.chinagate.com.cn/english
Here's one of the best
resources on China that I've seen. Chinagate.com
at www.chinagate.com.cn/english is a site established
jointly by the Chinese government and the World Bank.
Chinagate.com will help you get up to speed on what's
happening in China, especially in the area of developing
trade. There are many articles and resources on trade,
including a Trade Show Calendar, Development Agenda,
Poverty Elimination Requirements, Business Invitation
Information, Expert Forum, Hot Topics, and World Bank in
China. Also, it provides information on travel, weather,
and finance, as well as a search engine.
There are lots more links to China at the FITA site.
Go to http://fita.org/webindex/index.html,
click on Regional Resources and Multi-Lateral Trading
Areas in the left column or "Search by Country or
Region" in the right column, and then go to Asia and
select China in the pop-up window. Or simply type
"China" in the search box at http://www.fita.org/.
|
EXPORTING FROM THE USA JUST GOT EASIER
http://www.buyusa.com/affiliate?affCode=FITA
Are you interested in
increasing your sales to new markets? Have you explored
the idea of selling your products overseas, but you're
not sure how to start? BuyUSA.com,
an e-marketplace brought to you by the US Department of
Commerce, is an online export assistance tool that helps
you increase your sales by increasing your company's
international exposure. When you join their dynamic
global e-marketplace, you will experience: qualified
(legitimate) business partners, low-cost export
solutions, proven success, and exposure to over 20,000
buyers looking to source U.S. products and services. Let
the U.S. Department of Commerce help your business grow.
Visit BuyUSA at www.buyusa.com/affiliate?affCode=FITA today
and see your sales grow tomorrow. Please enter the FITA
subscription code 537 when prompted during
registration.
|
NEWS
SITES
http://www.newsplace.org/
As a journalist, I like NewsPlace.org
because it has links to research sources. However,
this site is useful for both writers and readers. There
are links to online publications, media e-mail
addresses, information sources, reference works,
people-finder services, PR sources, university contacts,
travel guides, government agencies, and much more. One
gem I found: 1st Headlines at
www.1stheadlines.com, a quick way to read the latest
news headlines.
|
SCAMS
AND FRAUDS
http://travel.state.gov/scams.html
Because I'm a person of high
moral fiber, I get several e-mails a week from people
overseas who want to deposit millions of dollars in my
bank account. They're usually in desperate need of a
reputable person like me to give them my bank account
number, so they can transfer money out of their country
and into my account. For this service I am entitled to a
generous fee that is usually in the millions.
Sound familiar? Just about everyone with an e-mail
address has received offers like this, usually from
people claiming to be related to high government
officials in Nigeria. The unlucky people who fall for
this scam end up losing large sums of money. Along with
all the good it has brought, the Internet has also
opened new territory to scam artists and frauds. Here
are three sites that will help you protect yourself
against unscrupulous people who want to take your money.
Advance Fee
Business Scams at travel.state.gov/scams.html. The
information here is from the U.S. State Department, but
it applies no matter what your nationality. It's a good
primer on a certain type of Internet scam.
National Fraud
Information Center at www.fraud.org/welcome.htm.
This site details Internet fraud, telemarketing scams,
fraud against the elderly, and much more.
Quatloos! at
www.quatloos.com. What's a Quatloo? Read the
explanation, then stay around to read the latest news
and fraud alerts. Visit the Cyber-Museum of Frauds &
Scams, and the Nigerian Scam Letters
Gallery.
|
If you'd like to search back issues of Really
Useful Sites for International Trade Professionals,
there's a search page at http://fita.org/useful/search.html.
If
you'd like to see all back issues of Really Useful
Sites for International Trade Professionals, the full
list is at http://www.fita.org/useful/archives.html.
Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to others.
|
|
Full archives
can be found at http://fita.org/useful/archives.html.
Really Useful Sites for International Trade Professionals can be
searched at
http://fita.org/useful/search.html
|
|