ITC aims to create new, as well as enhance existing, information services offered by Trade Support Institutions (TSIs). We help them to manage and deliver efficient trade information services leading to the improved competitiveness of SMEs on international markets.
ITC's Trade Information Services (TIS) team partners with Trade Support Institutions by providing technical advice, training programs, market information resources and web-based solutions for effective trade intelligence gathering and dissemination.
Information
Please expand this section to access links to online resources related to offering trade information services.
- Operating a trade
information service
- Guidelines for the
operation of WTO reference centres
- Selling business information
and related services
- Market information
service checklist
- Performance measurement
for trade information services
- Annual trade
information training programme (ed. 2010)
- Online
market research (ed. 2010)
Data and Research
ITC’s Library supports the organisation’s information needs and activities and
assists partner institutions in developing and transition economies in the
selection of relevant trade information sources. Trade Support Institutions can
also benefit from the intelligence provided by ITC’s Market News Service (MNS). This Service has evolved in the past three years into a comprehensive service providing not only quantitative price information but focusing on qualitative information
on 11 sectors.
The objectives is to provide TSIs in developing countries with pragmatic, usable
trade intelligence on products of strategic importance to their export
development. MNS reports are distributed to 3,800 users in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean alone. Dissemination agreements are possible upon
request. Please contact: mns@intracen.org
Advisory Services
We provide a variety of advisory services to TSIs in order to
enable them to improve their information services provision. Such as:
- Formulation of
operational plans to set up trade information services within TSIs
- Diagnosis of TSIs
trade information needs, and assessment of existing information service
capacities to meet such needs
- Development of technical
and operational infrastructures for TSIs, including website and trade information design and
production
- Implementation of effective
information processing, management, monitoring and delivery processes
- Selection and acquisition of relevant trade
intelligence material
Training
TSIs can participate in training programmes lasting between two to ten days. Training programmes vary from providing an overview of general information management challenges to specific courses covering, for example, the information management needs of Foreign Trade Representatives. Here is a list:
- Trade Information Training Programme (10 days training - Geneva/London)
- Training on “How to prepare market profiles” (3 to 4 days)
- Training programme on “How to Prepare Market Pointers and Market
Opportunity Reports” (3 to 4 days
training + 4 to 6 days coaching)
- Trade Information Management for Foreign Trade Representatives (3 days training)
- Introduction to Trade Information Management for
TSIs (2 days training)
Projects
Here you will find examples of our current and recent information services projects, such as our work relating to our Programme for Building African Capacity for Trade (PACT II) 1/PACT II, Regional
Trade Information Networks, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
The
project aims to strengthen regional trade information networking in the leather
sector by supporting business information exchange at national and regional
levels, improving access to, and use of, international market information
sources (and promoting regional products and services). It will also assess the
feasibility of COMESA re-establishing the Trade Information Network (TINET).
2/Trade Information Training Programme
Recent example: 22 November to 3 December, 2010; Geneva, Switzerland & London, United
Kingdom.
This training programme has been running for more than 15
years. Its objective is to provide training on trade information management to
officers of business information services in trade promotion organizations,
chambers of commerce, business associations and other organizations involved in
searching, processing or disseminating trade information.
The topics covered in the course include a number of
information management and information resource themes, including:
- Analysing information needs and services
- Web 2.0 in trade information management
- Effective information search techniques
- Operating information services
- Disseminating trade information
- Monitoring and assessing information services
- Identifying relevant information sources
- Trade contacts
- Market news, trends and reports
- Market access and trade regulations
- Trade statistics
- Prices