If you'd like to explore opportunities for trade with the Philippines, go to The US-ASEAN Business Council's Philippines page ( http://www.us-asean.org/philippines.asp ), Here you'll find the latest business and trade news, plus lots more. Click on "country profile", "economic indicator", "business guide" or other categories at the top of the page and you'll get detailed reports that will help you learn about the Philippine economy, government, political situation, foreign relations, travel conditions, and more. If you click on "Important Links" you'll get links to newspapers and wire services, government agencies, and other useful sites.

There are more useful links to the Philippines at the FITA site. Simply go to http://www.fita.org/webindex/countries.html, then go to Asia and click on Philippines. Or, you can type "Philippines" in the search box at http://www.fita.org.

There are some great books on trade with Philippines in the FITA Global Trade Bookstore, including Passport Philippines: Your Pocket Guide to Filipino Business, Customs and Etiquette, The Philippines Business Guide, and Between Two Worlds - Society, Politics, and Business in the Philippines.



IPANET

Every member state of the European Union has a value added tax (VAT). The rates vary from 15 to 25 percent among the member states and among certain types of products. If you do business with EU countries you need to know about Value Added Tax, and a good place to get up to speed is European Union Value Added Tax ( http://www.eurunion.org/legislat/VATweb.htm ). This site has links to information about VAT rates, legislation, proposals, refund procedures, and everything else you need to know.

One thing you may not know is that companies can reclaim the VAT on specific business expenses. A lot of companies don't seem to know this -- according to some estimates, US companies are currently reclaiming only 20 percent of the more than $1 billion they are paying in VAT in Europe, whereas German companies are giving away an estimated $1.2 billion in unclaimed European VAT refunds. The VAT Recovery Group, headquartered in Germany, can help you recover your VAT expenses. You'll find a link to them at the FITA site ( http://www.fita.org/marketplace/vat.html ).



TV TOME

http://www.tvtome.com

Although I'm not a tv addict, I did shed a tear at the last episode of "Frasier", because I got attached to the characters after so many years. That's why a site like TV Tome ( http://www.tvtome.com ) can be such fun. TV Tome has guides to over 2,100 shows, covering all the current shows and many classic shows. The guides have information on the cast and crew of each show, plus a list of episodes, reviews, a "goofs guide" which points out mistakes in the episodes, and a message forum. TV Tome also has tv news, including a fall schedule, information about shows in development, and much more. It's a tv fan's dream.