Highlights of Activities

• Development of an ITC position paper in creative industries, with a focus on visual arts 

• UEMOA (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo): Strategy validation workshop and donor round-table for the ITC-designed regional project on "Export Development and Promotion of Artisanal Products" 

• Sri Lanka: ITC project for the development of the private sector export capacity (including the gems and jewellery sector) 

2004 

Ongoing 

• Cambodia 

• Lao People's Democratic Republic 

• Viet Nam 

ITC projects in support of trade promotion and export development (including the craft sector) 

June 

• UNCTAD XI (Sao Paulo, Brazil): 

January 

• ITC participation in the Canada Forum on Cultural Enterprise (Paris, France) 

2003 

December 

• Cuba: ITC workshop at the International Craft (and Plastic Arts) Fair (FIART), Havana, Cuba 

July 

• Cuba: ITC international consultancies towards the export development of Cuban visual and applied arts 

May 

• Mauritania: Validation workshop and programming mission to Nouakchott on export development and promotion of artisanal products 

January 

• Cuba: ITC national consultancy on the export potential survey of Cuban plastic and applied arts 

• UEMOA (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo): Design and formulation of an ITC regional project document on "Export Development and Promotion of Artisanal Products" 

• Cambodia: Export promotion activities for the silk craft sector under the Integrated Framework (IF) and the ITC Export-led Poverty Reduction Programme (EPRP) 

2002 

December 

• Mauritania: Needs assessment mission for craft export development 

• Cambodia: ITC programming mission on export development of artisanal products within the framework of "Capacity Building for Pro-Poor Trade Reforms" 

October 

• ITC programming mission to Commission of the Union économique et monétaire ouest-africaine (UEMOA), in support of the "Programme communautaire en matière d'artisanat" of the eight Member States: Bénin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinée-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Sénégal, Togo 

May 

• Senegal, Dakar: ITC/WIPO Workshop on "L'art africain contemporain et le marché international" (14-18 May 2002)

2001 

September 

• ASEAN: ITC programming mission to Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam on "Export Development of ASEAN Artisanal Products: Reducing Poverty and Building Capacities"

• ITC supports cooperation with NGOs at the "Into the Market Seminar" ,by Traidcraft/CBI in the Netherlands

August 

• India: Promoting export of wood-based handicrafts (ITC project IND/95/001), Market Readiness Training Programme at the New York International Gift Fair

July 

• International Craft Trade Fairs: A Practical Guide

  by ITC/UNESCO/Commonwealth Secretariat (English, French, Spanish) 

June 

• Zambia: ITC programming mission to expand and diversify craft exports

January 

• Cuba, Havana: ITC/WIPO Workshop on Legal Protection of Original Craft Items

2000 

July 

• At ITC's initiative, the World Customs Organization (WCO) adopted a new Recommendation (NG0021B1 of 7 July 2000) to codify artisanal products separately

  Counting the Value of Crafts

June 

• ITC in support of Crafts Codification and Protection at the World Bank's "Artisan as Entrepreneur Learning Fair" in Washington

April-May 

• Trade in artisanal products: Effective use of legal means to protect original craft items

  ITC pilot consultancy study in Bolivia, Colombia and Perú, in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

March 

• Occupied Palestinian Territories: Development of craft entrepreneurship and commercialization of artisanal products

  ITC Product Manager mission: Needs assessment and formulation of a joint project with UNESCO and Aid to Artisans.

1999 

November-December 

• Six-week tailor-made training course on design and marketing for Indian woodcraft designers, at the Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom

  Project IND/95/001. 

• The First International Seminar on "Traditional Carpets and Kilims in the Muslim World":

  Organizers: IRCICA, Istanbul, (the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, OIC), and the Handicraft National Agency (ONA), Tunis, in cooperation with MASHAREQ International Establishment, Jeddah, and in collaboration with CIPA, Fez (International Centre for the Promotion of Crafts). ITC Product Manager addressed the official inaugural and closing ceremonies, chaired a session, and presented a main conference paper on "Markets of Traditional Carpets and Kilims - Exploring New Marketing Opportunities: Providing the size of commercial exchange and of labour force employed in this sector". 36 countries participated.

August-September 

• Two-week study tour in Southeast Asia (Philippines, Thailand, Singapore)

  Organized by ITC for a group of key Indian Government officials, experts and exporters of wooden artisanal products. Project IND/95/001).

• Mauritius: Poverty reduction through commercialization of artisanal products

  An ITC programming mission consisting of the Product Manager and an international Consultant, met with the Mauritian craft sector's stakeholders with a view to assessing needs and proposing ITC technical cooperation.

April 

• ITC's strategy for the promotion of trade in artisanal products from developing countries and economies in transition approved, and distributed at the Joint Advisory Group Meeting on the International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO.

February 

• 2nd Meeting of the Organization of American States and the World Bank on Cultural Heritage Partnerships, Washington

  ITC Product Manager presented the draft sectoral strategy to participating craft sector development partners from North and Latin America and the Caribbean. These consultations were followed by the dissemination of the revised draft to selected partners from both client countries and target markets in various regions of the world, for enrichment and comments, before finalization.

January 

• Agreement of cooperation concerning training, marketing and trade aspects in craft promotion, signed between ITC and IRCICA, a subsidiary inter-governmental organ of 58 Member States within the OIC.

Previous years 

October 1997 

• UNESCO/ITC International Symposium on "Crafts and the International Market: Trade and Customs Codification", Manila, Philippines

  132 participants representing 44 countries. The adopted Plan of Action addressed the issues of crafts codification, marketing and protection.

June1995 

• Signature of the ongoing Agreement of Cooperation between UNESCO and ITC for the Development of Artisanal Products.