Hello international traders! In this issue I take a look at a country that's way down in the Southern Hemisphere -- South Africa. It's a place with a growing economy and lots of potential as a market, so you'll want to take a look at the site I found about this southernmost African country. Next, I found a site that will help developing countries bolster their trade with the European Union. Also, I've got a site that has tons of links to help you do business in Iraq. Finally, I have an all-in-one search page that will make your Web searches faster and more accurate.
If you'd like more information about international trade, go to FITA's International Trade/Import-Export Portal ( http://fita.org ), an excellent source for trade leads, news, events, and a link library of 7,000 sites related to international trade.
SOUTH AFRICA -- OUR FEATURED COUNTRY SITE
http://www.mbendi.co.za/land/af/sa/p0005.htmThe Republic of South Africa is known for diamonds and gold, but if you're prospecting for international trade, there's a lot of potential in this country at the southern tip of Africa. The CIA World Factbook says it's "a middle-income, emerging market with an abundant supply of natural resources; well-developed financial, legal, communications, energy, and transport sectors; a stock exchange that ranks among the 10 largest in the world", and a modern infrastructure. In 2002 it imported US $26.6 billion worth of goods, and it's one of the world's 50 largest economies.
To learn more about South Africa, go to the South Africa page at MBendi ( http://www.mbendi.co.za/land/af/sa/p0005.htm ). Click on the categories to the left for information about the country's politics, economy, industry sectors, health, business assistance plans, and more. For more specific information, including a guide to doing business in South Africa, a guide to exporting to the country, company directories, and trade leads, click on the drop-down boxes to the right.
There are many more links to South Africa at the FITA site. Go to FITA's International Trade Web Resources at http://fita.org/webindex/index.html, click on Regional Resources then go to Middle East/Africa and click on South Africa in the drop-down box. Or simply type "South Africa" in the search box at http://www.fita.org. There are some great books on trade with South Africa in the FITA Global Trade Bookstore, including Passport South Africa, Doing Business in South Africa and the South Africa at a Glance.
EXPANDING EXPORTS HELP DESK
http://export-help.cec.eu.intThe European Union is a huge market with lots of potential, and certain countries qualify for preferential treatment in breaking into it. To find out more, go to Expanding Exports Help Desk ( http://export-help.cec.eu.int ). This site, provided by the European Commission, has resources to help developing countries gain a foothold in trade with the EU. There's information on qualifying for advantageous import tariffs, plus a guide to the documentation you need to qualify. There's also a trade statistics database you can search, to determine which EU country has the most potential for your products, and a Trade Forum that will help you find trading partners and contacts within the EU.
HONG KONG'S TDCTRADE.COM GLOBAL TRADE SEARCH ENGINE
Search tdctrade.com Now and Win Great Prizeshttp://www.tdctrade.com
No one need tell you of the opportunities offered by China's booming economy. But how can YOU profit by it? If it's a business partnership you're after, a quality product at a competitive price, an invaluable insight, or perhaps an opportunity arising from China's new closer economic partnership with Hong Kong, go straight to tdctrade.com.
Search this website developed by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and you'll find whatever business and trade information you need. With the newly enhanced search engine, you can further cut research time to get what you're after, by selecting from 4 categories of information: Product and Company Information, Trade Events, Market Intelligence and Web Reference.
See for yourself. After you've conducted a search, share what you think and you may win even digital cameras, camcorder and more great prizes in the Search and Find Lucky Draw! Find out the details now.
USEFUL IRAQ LINKS
http://www.exim.gov/iraqlinks.htmThere are new opportunities every day for trade with Iraq, and if you want to find out about them, a good site to visit is the Export-Import Bank's page of Useful Iraq Links ( http://www.exim.gov/iraqlinks.htm ). Here you'll find information and contacts for Iraqi banks and businesses, as well as legal information, trade leads, bidding opportunities with the U.S. government, links to U.S. government agencies, a guide to doing business in Iraq, and much more.
SOOPLE
http://www.soople.comThere are so many ways to search the Web for information that you can easily get overwhelmed. That's why this next site is so useful. Soople ( http://www.soople.com/ ) is a page of search boxes that allow you to target your search in new ways. There are boxes that let you search for specific file types (Word, Powerpoint, Excel, etc.); news stories; images; keywords within a site; definitions; stocks; numbers (UPS/Fedex tracking numbers, patent numbers, etc.); and even movie reviews. It's worth bookmarking, because it will help you find what you're looking for faster.
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