ISSUE 4/2004

When the International Trade Centre (ITC) was created in 1964, developing countries were emerging slowly from an era of import substitution and trade was largely in the hands of the industrialized world. Developing and socialist countries (171 of them) had only 21% of the share of world trade, which totalled US$ 175 billion.

Leather is one of the world's most widely traded commodities. The trade in leather and leather products - worth more than US$ 60 billion per year - is predicted to grow. The African leather sector is bursting with potential, but there is a wide gap between resources and production. ITC's development programme has galvanized the sector.

In August 1998, a young, would-be businessman returned home to Ruritania from a year of language studies in Europe. "They've got everything they think they could ever want there," he told his doting parents. "But what they don't have is anything like our Ruritanian widgets. A huge market is ready and waiting. All we need to do is convert that little factory down the road to mass production for export and our fortune will be made!" His enthusiasm was infectious. They set up to expand the family firm, ordered state-of-the-art Ruritanian widget-making equipment and hired hundreds of workers. Within a year, more widgets came off the production line in a week than the old factory had turned out for the Ruritanian market in a year and the warehouse was full.

In Bolivia, a group of enterprising companies survived the collapse of the rubber industry by harvesting and processing Brazil nuts. As the lead export of the Amazon region, these humble - but difficult - nuts may be the secret to saving the precious rainforest. ITC's assistance in addressing quality management issues has helped these exporters, as part of a project designed to boost Bolivian exports in ten industry sectors.

More than 20,000 Chinese farming families have been lifted out of rural poverty in a remarkable economic success story that has seen Yunnan province in south-west China become one of the leading cut-flower centres in Asia.

Successful exporting by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can be pivotal in bringing broader prosperity to developing countries, boosting economic vitality at community level and creating sustainable livelihoods for employees and their families. But while globalizing markets offer new opportunities for these small firms, a latticework world of complex regulations, standards and other trade barriers presents a series of formidable obstacles for companies seeking export markets. ITC's Trade Secrets guides provide information that helps these firms make the leap into international markets.

With this collection of portraits, ITC brings a message of challenge, and of hope. The immense challenge is to bridge the gap between rich and poor. The hope is to build upon practices that work, in the area of trade development, and take action on a broader scale.In today's globalized world, new market opportunities abound. But competition is fiercer, so developing countries are asking ITC the same question they asked 40 years ago: "How can we export better?" In essence, these countries need both competitive exports and market access. Helping countries build their capacity to supply world markets is ITC's contribution to sustainable development, through trade.

Bancomext, the Mexican Bank for Foreign Trade, was the first ITC partner organization to produce a Spanish national version of the general guide for first-time exporters with financial support from several donors. It was also the first to produce related guides for specific export sectors.

Viet Nam has risen in the last five years to become the world's top pepper exporter. ITC has accompanied Viet Nam during the process, helping it to upgrade quality and dramatically increase revenues for rural families, not least the women workers who underpin the industry. At the same time, the conscious emphasis on quality has allayed fears among other producers that low-priced, poor-quality pepper would drive international prices downwards.

"Berimbau, Berimbau, Berimbau: It is a wire and a piece of wood," sing the women of the Sauípe region of the Brazilian state of Bahia. This local musical instrument, a key element of their culture, is also the symbol of hope for poor communities around Costa do Sauípe resort.

When South Africa broke with apartheid, the country had to rethink its approach to business and trade. It selected ITC as the partner to help rebuild its trade strategy. Here is a portrait of an evolving strategy that helped South Africa fast-forward from isolation to integration in the global economy, boost incomes and become a magnet for investment.

In the early 1990s, the break-up of the Soviet Union launched landlocked Mongolia into a world without borders. Faced with a new economic order, Mongolia's nascent private sector and trade institutions needed to move quickly from free market theory to practice. ITC, a long-standing trade development partner, provided practical help and guidance.

Turkey's export growth in recent years is an encouraging sign of its economic potential. It is looking to small firms to sustain this growth. To meet the needs of a multitude of new, mainly small and medium-sized export firms, Turkey's Export Promotion Centre came to ITC for help in revamping its services. Together, they have developed a new approach to training trade advisers for small firms, which is now being used in other countries.