ISSUE 1/2004

Trade Forum's issue 3/1994 highlighted the milestones that had marked the first 30 years of ITC's history. The article is reprinted below.

ITC's Executive Forum moves back to Montreux, Switzerland this year after three innovative sessions in Cancún (Mexico), Sofia (Bulgaria) and Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago).

Through a partnership between ITC and Team Canada Inc., Canadian exporters and trade professionals now have access to TradeMap, a powerful strategic market research and trade development tool.

Interview by Peter Hulm As a preview to our end-of-year publication on ITC's 40th anniversary, we've turned to two ITC "historians": Jacqueline Rigoulet and Frederick J. Glover. In this interview they try to communicate what it was like to work in ITC during its early days.

Companies and multilateral organizations are moving against corruption in business life, bolstering national efforts to stamp out bribery.

My organization, which subscribes to Trade Forum, delivers services to developing country producers to enhance their export skills. As part of a new training workshop we are designing on effective sales missions, we used the article "Business Negotiations: Making the First Offer" (2/2000) to help us design negotiation role plays and provide guidance on best practice. We will pilot this workshop with small businesses in Malawi and will deliver it in a variety of other c

The World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (WASME) and ITC joined forces to offer a four-day training course in Geneva (January 2004) on "Developing Effective Trade Promotion Programmes". Attending the course at ITC headquarters were 30 senior trade development officials from the public and private sectors in 16 developing countries.

A joint evaluation of ITC has been launched. Led by the Danish International Development Agency (Danida), it is receiving funding support from seven donors and is conducted under the auspices of a "core group" of countries drawn from ITC's Joint Advisory Group. The consortium implementing the evaluation is comprised of DMI Associates (France), Ticon DCA (Canada), Copenhagen DC (Denmark) and Ace Global (India).

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. But with support from ITC, it is helping Burundi to enter the rich global market of perfumes.

This year, ITC turns 40. So does Trade Forum, which is ITC's oldest surviving service. Both ITC and its magazine have grown and changed over the years, but both have stayed true to ITC's mission: helping the business sectors of developing countries compete in a changing global marketplace.

Thank you for the intellectual revelations Trade Forum has offered me. Most Africans' views on North-South relations, including trade, are anchored in the belief that colonialism was the major cause of African underdevelopment. But your publication reveals that not addressing supply-side constraints has been the major cause. Empirical evidence shows that some former colonies like India, Malaysia and Singapore are developing because of the commitment of their leadership to creating an enabling env

Who is "the responsible consumer", that new and powerful figure in business school lectures and trade negotiations? Someone who buys from a firm that shows "corporate social responsibility", it seems.

The secret to success for any technical cooperation agency is to tailor its assistance programmes directly to the needs of its clients and to deliver them efficiently.

A revolution is looming in the world of goods and services procurement. It will fundamentally change the relationships between costs and returns.