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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 http://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:
| | OUR FEATURED COUNTRY SITE -- HONG KONG
The recent SARS outbreak has had an impact on the economy of Hong
Kong, but there's no doubt that this bustling hub of capitalism
will make a comeback. Hong Kong has weathered other problems,
including the Asian financial crisis of the 1990s, and it will
undoubtedly emerge from this one stronger than ever. Hong Kong
depends heavily on imports, since it has few natural resources.
For that reason it has become a major player in international
trade, and is one of the largest U.S. trading partners.
A good place to look for resources about Hong Kong is The
Economist Country Briefing on Hong Kong ( http://www.economist.com/countries/HongKong
), which has breaking news, background reports, economic analysis and forecasts,
currency exchange rates, links to useful Web sites, and much more.
There are many more links to Hong Kong at the FITA site. Go to the FITA
International Trade Web Resources (http://fita.org/webindex/index.html),
click on Regional Resources and Multi-Lateral Trading Areas in the left column,
then scroll down to Asia and click on Hong Kong in the drop-down box. Or simply
type "Hong Kong" in the search box at http://www.fita.org.
HAIRYAPE
I've never tasted a hog plum, but if I ever need to find a supplier of hog plums
all I have to do is go to HairyApe
( http://www.hairyape.co.uk ), which calls itself "the largest interactive fruit,
vegetable, and flower search engine in the world". This Web site has a database
of importers, exporters, wholesalers, growers, and all sections of the fresh produce
industry worldwide, and it's easy to use. Once you register (for a fee of US$50),
you can search by product, country of origin, variety (e.g., Fuji Apples), and
supplier location. The results list gives you all the contact information you
need, including e- mail and Web site addresses. Suppliers can register to be included
in the database for free, and there's even an Offers Board where exporters can
post messages about special offers.
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UNTAPPED BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN!
http://www.guiaexport.com
Guía Export from Bell South is an excellent way to increase your exports to Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Guía Export from Bell South is a Business to Business directory that is hand couriered to ensure delivery and currently has a circulation of over 400,000 copies.
It's like having a salesperson in 40 countries, and over 6000 cities!
Click
here to receive your FREE copy of Guía Export!
Hear what others business owners are saying about advertising in Guía Export.
Courtney E. Naiton, GM of Bearings & Drives, Inc said, "Our first set of ads
went into the 2000 edition of the Guía. Within a couple of weeks, we began getting
unsolicited phone calls, e-mails, and faxes from countries all over Latin America.
We have since increased our advertising exposure in Guía, and have seen a direct
correlation to an increase in responses."
Click here to learn
how Guía Export from Bell South can help you generate new customers from emerging
markets in Latin America & the Caribbean |
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REBUILDING IRAQ
There's a lot of work to be done to rebuild Iraq after the recent war, and business
has a big role to play in the effort. The
U.S. Department of Commerce Rebuilding Iraq ( http://www.export.gov/iraq/
) site is a good place to visit if you want to find information about business
opportunities in this rapidly changing area of the world. This site is updated
on a daily basis, and you'll find lots of news and information about commercial
opportunities, financing, contracts awarded, humanitarian assistance, and more.
There's a guide to doing business in Iraq, news about subcontracting opportunities,
and a daily fact sheet that are also worth checking out.
KILLERINFO
I love finding new search engines (you're right, I don't get out much), and I've
just found one that's especially fun. KillerInfo
( http://www.killerinfo.com ) has a neat little feature called Quick Peek that
lets you view a Web page before actually visiting it. If you see a site on your
results list that looks interesting, just click on Quick Peek, and a window opens
up to show you the page. KillerInfo is a meta search engine, which means it sends
your query to multiple search engines and then presents the best results to you.
It also clusters your results into categories in a right hand column, so you can
click on the category that looks most relevant to your interest. You can also
search for country-specific information by clicking on a country's flag at the
top of the page. Note: KillerInfo sells sponsored listings, which means the top
two or three listings in your search results may be paid placements. That doesn't
affect the quality of the rest of the listings, however, so this is still a useful
site.
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