ROLE OF EXPORT PROMOTION AGENCIES IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE

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ROLE OF EXPORT PROMOTION AGENCIES IN
INTERNATIONAL TRADE

• Presentation by
• R. ASOKAN
• Jt. Director
• FEDERATION OF INDIAN EXPORT ORGANISATIONS
• Southern Region

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Sourcing Names and Addresses of Importers

• Sources are
•  
• who are visiting India for their purchases,
• the exporters come across the importers during
  their export promotional tours abroad and
• followed by letters of importers showing interest
  in importing goods from India
• Buying House Agents
• important Websites available in the Internet

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Role Of Export Promotion Organisations
The Government of India have established a number
of institutions and organisations and
Corporations for promoting exports from India.
Export Promotion Organisations and Institutions
can broadly be classified into the following
categories   - Government Departments - Export
Promotion Councils / Commodity Boards - Service
Institutions - Inspection Agencies - Export
Corporations.
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Service Institutions

• Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
• India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO)
• Director General of Foreign Trade 
• Indian Council of Arbitration
• Indian Institute of Packaging
• Export Import Bank (EXIM Bank)
• Export Inspection Council (EIC)
• Textiles Committee

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Survey of Target Markets

• Information on prospective markets is vital, both
  for new as well as established exporters
  interested in enhancing their exports. The
  following key details regarding the potential
  markets are essential to exporters
• Size of the market
• Growth prospects
• Market preferences
• Demand supply gap
• Current suppliers.
• Such preliminary market information will help
  exporters in identifying potential markets for
  their products.

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Trade Enquiries
After gaining an understanding of the market for
their products, the next requirement of exporters
is to identify trade enquiries. Though there are
a number of sources providing such information,
there is need for a single source to monitor all
business opportunities and trade enquiries
emanating globally. In addition, exporters are
also interested in posting their trade offers to
prospective partners abroad.
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Product Development and Fashion Trends
This is a key requirement for exporters keen on
benchmarking their products with the best
available globally. In industries like leather
and apparel, this information is critical for the
local exporters to plan their raw material
procurement, well in advance of the season, to
suit the future requirements of the
market.   Customer preferences in electronics
industry also reported to be fast changing and
exporters would need to fine-tune their product
features to stay in business.   This information
may not be critical to small exporters who are
mostly job order dependent, wherein the overseas
buyer dictates the product specifications and
features.
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Credit Appraisal of Trading Partners
Traditionally, overseas trading partners are
either identified through personal visits abroad
or through agents and brokers. With the
evolution of the Internet as a medium for
identifying trade opportunities, it becomes
increasingly important to examine the
credit-worthiness of the identified buyer before
exporting the products. This step is very
essential for Indian exporters to safeguard
themselves from unreliable trading partners
abroad.
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Regulations/Tariffs relating to Imports and
Exports
Globally, countries are forced to modify their
trade policies to suit the dynamically changing
business scenario. Exporters feel the need for a
single source providing country-wise updated
import and export policies. This would also help
them in identifying markets in countries with
favourable import policies.
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Current Sources
Publications of Industry Associations and
Bodies. Mailers and Bulletins from Export
Promotion Councils FIEO Online Data Sources
-- The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce
and Industry makes available its online database.
ASSOCHAM, CII, FIEO have also established a
databank for the benefit of its
members. Overseas Trade Journals Industry
Specific Pages Port Based Information on Exports
and Imports



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Trade and Business Enquiries

• Some of the reputed sources for global trade
  enquiries include
•  
• Import-Export Bulletin Board (IEBB) / STAT-USA
• Reuters Network for Tenders
• World Trade Center (WTC) Network

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Country Profiles and Import Export Policies
With the emergence of the global market, it is
essential for Indian exporters to know about a
countrys political climate and future of its
economy before deciding g on any long-term
business relationships. Sites providing reliable
information on countries include Economic
Intelligence Unit (EIU) Price Waterhouse I-TRADE
(IT) These sites are well updated and
comprehensive. Sites like EIU also provide a
rating on risks associated with trading with a
country based on its current economic performance
and is likely future.
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Latest Traded Prices of Certain Commodities
Latest traded price information in important
global markets is important for exporters of
leather and agricultural products. International
Trade Center (ITC), Geneva, regularly monitors
trade prices and forwards the same to subscribers
through email.
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Credit Appraisal

• Credit appraisal is a key requirement for medium
  and small-scale exporters, for which the
  internationally recognized sources are
•  
• Dun Bradstreet (DB)
• TRW
•  
• TRW is an important source for information on
  small and medium sized companies.

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POPULAR CREDIT RATNG AGENCIES WORLDWIDE

•  
• Alexander and Hamilton International custom
  credit reporting
• http//www.alhamco.com/english/credit_reporting.ht
  ml
• Canadian Credit Reporting Ltd. Canadian-based,
  investigative credit reporting agency, operating
  out of Toronto
• http//www.canadiancredit.com/
• China Credit Information Service Credit reporting
  for Taiwanese companies
• http//www.credit.com.tw/english.cfm
• http//www.cofacerating.com/ A global credit
  rating system, rating the security of the trade
  debt of any company. "Trade debt" means any debt
  up to 6 months, in the 1,000-100,000 euros (or
  USD) range, which is the range of most of
  e-commerce transactions,
• http//www.cofacerating.com/
• Credit Exchange Company that offers various
  credit and collection services specific to the
  transportation industry
• http//www.creditexchange.com/
• Credit FYI Credit reports for small US businesses
  with sales less than 5 million
• http//www.creditfyi.com/
• Credit Information Reports from Business Credit
  Management UK Complete UK companies credit
  reporting service
• http//www.creditman.co.uk/
• Credit Management Information Support Links to
  most credit reporting agencies and other credit
  management Web sites
• http//www.creditworthy.com/
• Credit Report Latin America World Credit
  reports from Latin America and other countries
• http//www.crla.com/

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POPULAR CREDIT RATNG AGENCIES WORLDWIDE

• FD Reports Credit solutions to manufacturers,
  wholesalers/distributors, and retailers of food,
  pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics, apparel
  and other products.
• http//www.fdreports.com/
• FCIB International Credit and Country Report
  International independent credit reports
• http//www.fcibglobal.com/
• Global Credit Reports Listings and links to local
  credit reporting agencies worldwide
• http//www.intl-credit.com/
• Graydon Credit Management Services Global credit
  reports and credit information management
  services
• http//www.graydon.co.uk/
• Infospectrum Provider of credit reports and
  commercial research to the international business
  world.
• http//www.infospectrum.net/
• J.I. International Worldwide credit reports
• http//www.jiintl.com/
• Kreller International Services Worldwide credit
  reports
• http//www.kreller.com/
• MRC Consultancy Services Ltd. Company reports for
  the marine, energy, industrial, commodities and
  transportation markets.
• http//www.mrcinfo.com/
• Owens On-Line Online credit information service
  with over 8.5 million company files
• http//www.owens.com/
• SCRL Group Credit information about all companies
  in France

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International Laws
Web sites like the International Trade Law
Monitor (ITL) provide region and country specific
trade related laws, useful to exporters trying to
access the legal impacts of entering new markets
and to identify friendly markets.
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Import and Export Statistics
Databases like Datastar and Dialog provide
details of exports and imports from major ports
in the USA and Europe. New exporters facing the
requirement of pricing their products often find
it useful to know the price quoted by fellow
exporters in the industry.   A common problem in
the use of this information by some exporters to
undercut prices and gain unfair competitive
advantage.
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Trade Market Surveys
Survey of market potential for products in
markets is an essential requirement for exporters
exploring possibilities in new markets and
country. While sites like Datastar and Dialog
offer preliminary reports on the market potential
for products, sites like I-TRADE offer to
undertake custom market research on behalf of
interested exporters.
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Other Useful Sources
Most of the traditional sources of trade related
information are now available on the web, which
is fast emerging as a convenient means of
distributing information. There are industry
specific sites like Apparelnet (for apparel
industry), which focus on the industrys
requirements. Other sites like Asian Sources
On-line focus on the requirements of a region.
The advantage of such sources is their in-depth
coverage of a sector or region.   While sponsored
sites providing general information offer access
free of charge, sites offering reliable
information often charge access fees.
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Sector-Based Portals for Market Research
For different sector, there are very useful
portal websites that offer comprehensive
information, or function as a gateway to other
sources on the Internet. They should be the
starting point for the data mining efforts.
These portal sites characteristically offer
industry news, information about product
development, business directories and, sometimes,
a buyers and sellers platform. Usually, they
also provide information about existing new or
upcoming regulations. Some examples of
interesting portals are
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www.autonewseurope.com (car parts)  www.devicelink
.com (medical devices)  www.fis.com
(seafood)  www.fruitnet.com (fruits) www.flowerweb
.com (flowers) www.organics.com (organic
products)  www.freshinfo.com (fresh
food)  www.foodnavigator.com (processed
food)  www.herbs.org (herbs and
spices)  www.leathernet.com (leather)  www.organic
-europe.net (organic products)
Information about portal websites can often be
obtained from traditional printed media, like the
trade press, or from other online sources, like
the CBI websites link plaza or the International
Trade Centre (ITC) tool P-maps (www.p-maps.org).
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Generic Market Information Portals
CBI and ITC provide generic market information
portals, covering a large number of product
groups and a wide range of themes. Particular
reference is made to the statistical tool of
ITCs P-maps (Tradingmap) and CBIs market
information database and link plaza. Use of
CBIs databases is free of charge. Subscription
to ITCs p-maps differs. For details browse
www.cbi.nl www.p-maps.org
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Search Engines
To know information about a portal site,
reference may be made to the trade magazines for
Internet links and use one of the international
search engines. Google (www.google.com) is
currently the most popular search engine. Keep
in mind that while using the search engine, it is
best to use the advanced search option in order
to filter the results and to keep them
manageable. The methodology is Input is
output. A general question will lead to general
results. It is better to formulate the search as
accurately as possible.
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Country Information
Many sources on the Internet provide
macro-economic country data. Country Reports
(www.countryreports.org), for instance, is a
database with country information covering
practically any country in the world and offering
relevant and fairly up-to-date macro data. Other
country information can be obtained from
Eurostat, the datashop of the European Union
(www.europa.eu.int)/index_en.htm) and the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development (OECD) (www.oecd.org).
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Market Size, Trade Statistics
Information about market size, segments and
developments is included in the market reports
downloadable from the CBI website. These kind of
information are also available in articles and
reports on portal sites or on websites of
industry associations. The link plaza on the
CBIs website includes links to sector-based
portal sites and industry associations. Trade
statistics are also available (though not free of
charge) through Eurostat. For agricultural
products, Faostat, the statistical database of
the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of
the United Nations provides a very useful source
for trade as well as production statistics.
Search filters include product, market, volume
and value as well as multipleyears selection.
The Faostat database is free of charge
(http//www.fao.org/waicent/portal/statistics.en.a
sp).
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Standards and Legislation
Information about safety health, social and
environmental issues, as well as other
legislation and product standards, is available
through the CBIs market information and Access
guide database or from the European Commissions
database, Eur-lex (www.europa.eu.int/eur-lex).   S
ome of the main sources of information for the
food industry on food sAfety are
www.codexalimentarius.net and htpp//foodnet.fie.c
a (one can download the full HACCP manual).
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Import Duties
The European Commission has also published a
database with all import duties on the Internet.
To search by product and country of origin
browse. www.europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/i
ndex_en.htm
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Market Players
Information about market players, importers,
wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers as well
as competitors is available from market reports.
Online business directories and trade fair
catalogues are also helpful in this respect
(often available online at the website of the
tradefair organizer), Business directories can be
found on sector-based portals. There are also
generic business directories. The most important
generic online directories are Europages
(www.europages.com) and Kompass
(www.kompass.com). Business directories offer
multiple search filters, like product group,
market, company type or company size.
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Prices
Some interesting sources for price information
are   www.public-ledger/com - (Commodities).
Check the site for the subscription
fee.   www.todaymarket.com The today market
website offers a free trial for 7 days.
Subcriptin is US 25 per month.   www.fintrac.com/
gain/prices - This is the website of the Global
Agribusiness Information Network. It provides
information about wholesale fruits, vegetables,
herbs and flower prices free of charge for
various markets in the United States, Latin
America, Europe and Japan. Depending on the
market selection, the information can be one to
seven days old.   www.p-maps.org - The ITCs
p-maps contain Market News Services with
wholesale import prices for selected commodities.
Subscription prices vary.
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Distribution Channels

• Information on distribution channels can be
  obtained from market reports (like the CBIs) and
  from the industry associations.
•  
• Trade Fairs
•  
• Information about trade fairs all over the world
  can be obtained free of charge from the following
  databases. www.tsnn.com and www.exhibitions-world
  .com.

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For more details about FIEO

• Kindly contact
• FIEO Southern Region Office
• Spencer Plaza, Unit No.706, 7th Floor
• 769, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002
• Phone [phone]
• Fax [phone]
• Email fieosr_at_giasmd01.vsnl.net.in

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THANK YOU!