Representatives from 15 public and private institutions came from 8 different cities to participate to this workshop. Throughout this extensive training, stakeholders were introduced to the regional tool and acquired the skills to conduct a comprehensive market analysis for a chosen Tunisian product. They are now preparing to take part in the next step of the programme starting in 2024! |
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Simultaneously, representatives from Jordanian public and private institutions have successfully completed their second workshop « Training of Trainers ». This 4-day training was key to sharpening the future trainers' skills and increasing their knowledge of the Euromed Trade Helpdesk. Earlier, they attended technical virtual sessions to reinforce their understanding of the Euromed Trade Helpdesk main trade related concepts. With the completion of the last steps of the programme, national stakeholders are now capable of leading their own sessions about this regional tool. As of mid-December, two sessions were implemented by Jordanian trainers, and additional ones are planned in the coming weeks. The programme has been supported by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply, Jordan Exports, as well as the European Union since its launch last August. |
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Testimonials: National partners share their experience on Euromed Trade Helpdesk
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A success story of a sustainable impact created by Libyan partners |
The achievements of Libyan partners are worth celebrating as evidence that lasting impact is possible. Supported by Expertise France, a similar Capacity-Building programme on Euromed Trade Helpdesk was implemented in Libya, through the EU-funded EU4PSL project. This initiative, which ended in December 2022, has successfully established a network of highly skilled certified trainers, capable of expanding their knowledge to others. They successfully did and continued to spread the word! In 2023, partners within the Ministry of Economy and Trade have continued to propagate knowledge, marking exactly one year since the programme’s completion. Over this period, they have conducted five sessions on the regional tool, reaching approximately 40 economic operators in the country. This accomplishment truly indicates the programme's forward-thinking approach. |
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Euromed Trade Helpdesk: an online regional tool supported by national partners |
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ITC and national partners commitment to maintain the Euromed Trade Helpdesk tool updated continues for 2024. The tool will soon integrate latest with key market information for our 10 partner countries in the Mediterranean region (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia, and Türkiye) as well as for the EU. The updates will include projections for the next five years on regional trade potential and untapped export opportunities, 2024 tariffs, regulatory requirements, and much more. The national networks also remain available to address users’ questions (visit the Help Centre to submit an enquiry).
Explore now the Euromed Trade Helpdesk available in four languages, and register your account for free. |
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Stay tuned for upcoming activities related to Euromed Trade Helpdesk |
Three free webinars on the Euromed Trade Helpdesk are planned to take place early 2024 in Arabic, English, and French. Fill in the form now by clicking one of below buttons and register to the session - more details will be shared next year. |
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Towards greater information on trade in services in TIFM countries |
As part of the Euromed Trade Helpdesk upgrade, a new module for trade in services was added, allowing users to assess the country performance in services sectors. In parallel, TIFM II project aims at improving the availability of detailed and reliable statistics, by collaborating with the national authorities. |
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In Morocco, ITC and national partners have completed the capacity-building activities, and the implementation has approached the final stage of data dissemination. Following the technical workshop held in Rabat in June 2023, a sensitization workshop for the main construction operators was organized last October, in collaboration with the “Office des Changes (OdC)” and the “Ministère de l’Industrie et du Commerce”. The objective of this day was critical: fostering the dialogue between statisticians and principal private and public sector stakeholders, to ultimately collect more precise statistics about the Moroccan Construction sector. The next stage, foreseen in early 2024, would be the publication of bilateral data on construction services. |
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In Jordan, national authorities choose to focus on transport services, and ITC strengthened its collaboration with local partners, notably organizing online technical meetings with the Central Bank of Jordan, Department of Statistics, Jordan Customs and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, focusing on transport data. |
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A successful "Train for Trade" workshop on Statistics of International Trade in Services (step 3) was concluded in October 2023, with more than 50 participants from all TIFM II countries. The breakdown included 29 male and 22 female participants, with notable representation from Egypt, Morocco, Jordan, and Tunisia. |
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A face-to-face technical workshop is planned in mid-January 2024 in Amman to address the most pertinent challenges faced by data compilers and explore the possibility of publishing transport statistics breakdown by partner country. This technical workshop is the fourth step of the scheduled activities in Jordan and would be followed by data dissemination through national websites and Euromed Trade Helpdesk. In addition, the collaboration between the ITC and national partners also progressed well with other countries, and more milestones are expected in 2024. |
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Construction services in Morocco: Mobilizing businesses for better trade data |
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NON-TARIFF MEASURES PROGRAMME Trade Obstacles revealed by businesses in the Euro-Mediterranean Region |
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In 2023, comprehensive surveys conducted by the International Trade Centre (ITC) looked into the cross-border trade challenges faced by companies in Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia. Insights from 1600 interviews with companies on their experiences provide an invaluable evidence base for policy makers to prioritize issues and take action. The surveys have also contributed to the assessment of the textile and clothing sector with non-tariff measures (NTMs), as part of ITC’s GTEX/MENATEX project which aimes to pinpoint the key hurdles affecting businesses in this sector. Check the survey's results now. The participating traders seized a unique opportunity to voice their daily challenges. For instance, a Jordanian exporter of melon seeds highlighted the lack of access to testing facilities as a significant obstacle. “The Spanish government requires virus, fungus, and bacteria tests for the seeds we export to them each time. The Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture conducts these tests. The testing process takes a long time, ranging from one to two weeks”. |
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Issues related to labelling and packaging also emerged as major concerns. “We have encountered problems regarding labelling during our exports. Unfortunately, there is no standardized model to follow, and current standards are subject to frequent change. This forces us to redo the labelling, thus generating additional costs for our company”, regrets a Moroccan exporter of carpets to France. The survey covered companies of all sizes, ranging from micro-businesses (1 to 10 employees) to large enterprises (over 250 employees). Additionally, the survey unveiled demographic insights, as women-led companies constituted approximately 10% of the total interviews, while youth-owned businesses represented 30% across all covered countries. |
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Local partners in Jordan trained on ITC survey methodology and interview techniques. |
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Beyond the trade in goods, the surveys also examined services sectors, including consulting services in Jordan, transport and logistics services in Morocco, and financial and insurance services in Tunisia. Insights from the survey data will enable both the public and private sectors in the partner countries to prioritize concerns of businesses and engage in discussions aimed at resolving the hurdles and contributing to a more business friendly environment. Meetings in Tunisia and Morocco are expected to take place in the first quarter of 2024 and will unveil the survey findings and pave the way for collaborative strategies moving forward. Stay tuned for more information in the next newsletter, and through our Market Analysis Tools social media pages (see top of the page). |
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Join the Survey - A Call for Action Companies are invited to participate in the ongoing surveys, contributing to a collective effort to identify and address trade challenges in the Euro-Mediterranean region. If you want to know more, please write to ITC Non-Tariff Measures Programme: ntm@intracen.org. |
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TRADE BRIEFS Trade Briefs explore exposure of trade flows to EUDR and continue focus on key products for the energy transition |
| The Trade Briefs November Spotlight explores countries’ exposure to the European Union’s regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR) for seven commodities—and their derived products—covered by the regulation. For each commodity, an interactive map and scatterplot allow users to identify countries that: 1. Export an important share of the product to the EU (“exposure rate”), 2. Rely heavily on the product for their total export revenues (“product importance”), and 3. Account for a large share of the EU’s imports of the product (“relevance to the EU”). |
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In Q4 2023, the Trade Briefs Series on key products for the energy transition covered electrolysers and electric cars. The Series, which will conclude in December, tracks trade in products that are central to the energy transition, identifies inputs used in those products, and highlights input suppliers with untapped potential for the 10 largest exporters of the products. For example, the November issue captured the surge in Australia’s imports of electric cars following the removal of customs duties on certain types of electric vehicles on 1 July 2022, and highlighted Italy’s $94 million in untapped potential for exports of motor vehicle brakes to Spain. |
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EASTERN PARTNERSHIP TRADE HELPDESK EaP project becomes member of the Travel Workshop expert group |
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Thanks to the previous work on travel data and refugees, undertaken in the framework of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) project, ITC, together with the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) and the National Bank of Moldova (NBM), were invited to become members of the Travel Workshop expert group coordinated by Banca d’Italia. Travel Workshop serves as a platform for exchanges on the most pertinent issues related to compilation of travel statistics for the Balance of Payments Purposes. Discussed issues include use of the payments statistics for collection of travel data and matching of transaction codes used for card payments with the balance of payments categories, capturing the residence principle, timing of payments and service delivery (accrual principle), or strong presence of online platforms such as Booking.com and other. |
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On 13-14 November, ITC and NBM travelled to Rome to participate in the annual meeting of the Travel Workshop, and the NBU participated online. For the first time; the issue of refugees and their impact on travel statistics was included in workshop’s agenda. “As Ukraine obtained the EU candidate status, we put much attention to the issue of bringing our statistics in line with EU standards. From this perspective, we strongly benefit from exchanges in the framework of Travel Workshop. We also highly value the attention paid to the refugee issue as for Ukraine and most neighbouring countries compiling the travel item is challenging due refugee flows.,” shared Ms. Valeriia Maliukova, Senior Economist at NBU. |
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Ms. Angela Moraru, Head of Balance of Payments Compilation at NBM, delivered a presentation dedicated the NBM research on payment cards data by merchant category codes and confirmed NBM’s intention participate in TW subgroup on Merchant Category Codes led by from Statistics Norway. The EaP team has also been working to collect the feedback from business support organizations and users to understand how they are using the platform. You can get a glimpse of what users are saying here. |
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| Visit the EaP Trade Helpdesk |
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EXPORT POTENTIAL AND TRADE POLICY ASSESSMENTS Exporting to China:
Opportunities for developing countries in the Belt and Road Initiative |
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In the context of the China International Import Expo 2023 (CIIE, November 5-10, Shanghai), ITC launched a new report analysing the opportunities for developing countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to grow their manufacturing exports to China. Since the launch of the BRI in 2013, exports from participating developing countries to China have soared by 79% to $798 billion, solidifying China’s position as their key partner. However, raw minerals, especially crude petroleum oil, continued to dominate the exports from BRI developing countries to China during this period. The report highlights abundant opportunities for export growth to China beyond those offered by primary industries: 66% ($211 billion) of the unrealized export potential of developing BRI countries to China is in manufacturing. While many of these opportunities are in resource-based sectors, plenty are value-added. Efforts to leverage the former should encompass environmental sustainability and working conditions. Targeted trade promotion must be designed to unlock the latter. Fully realizing the potential of BRI developing countries for manufacturing exports could boost their transition towards a more transformative sector structure, also in their trade with China. |
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Trade and Food Security in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation |
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Upon request of the Islamic Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT), as part of an on ongoing TMI project on trade and market intelligence for countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), TMI developed a report on trade and food security in the OIC. OIC countries face unique challenges in ensuring food security amidst global uncertainties like climate change, geopolitical conflicts, and market volatilities. Trade can be a double-edged sword, offering opportunities to bolster food security but also exposing nations to global market fluctuations. Key strategies for resilience identified in the report include diversifying food import sources, reconsidering trade barriers, investing in transport infrastructure, and promoting regional cooperation. Additionally, global coordination, transparency in food markets, and addressing climate change are paramount. As the world evolves, proactive and strategic trade policies are vital for OIC countries to ensure a stable food supply for their populations. |
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Value Chain Briefs identify export growth and diversification opportunities |
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As part of the Netherlands Trust Fund V programme, TMI prepared three value chain briefs for the cases of cocoa in Ghana, coffee in Ethiopia, and cashews in Senegal. These briefs present quantitative information on trade trends and export prospects along the value chain based on Trade Map and Export Potential Map. The brief on Ghanaian cocoa was summarized in the Q3 2023 TMI Newsletter. All three briefs can be found on the publications page of Export Potential Map. Ethiopia has significant opportunities for green coffee exports in specific markets. Europe offers the largest opportunities for export growth, with an unrealized export potential of $196 million, followed by North America ($64 million), the Middle East ($53 million), China ($26 million), and Australia ($12 million). Given the expected increase in demand for green coffee in the near future, unrealized potential in these markets is mostly growth-based, requiring increased investment to ensure that future supply capacity can meet future demand. |
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| Read the brief |
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As the tenth largest exporter of raw cashew nuts between 2017 and 2021, Senegal exports almost all of its cashew nuts unprocessed. Senegal can tap into an additional $47.3 million and $28 million in export potential in its current key markets, India and Viet Nam, respectively. As this unrealized export potential is entirely growth-based, it is crucial for Senegal to increase investments to ensure that future supply capacity matches market potential. |
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| Read the brief |
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WEST AFRICAN COMPETITIVENESS OBSERVATORY WACOMP Observatory incorporates additional trade indicators
and launches business matchmaking module |
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The West African Competitiveness (WACOMP) Observatory website has exciting new updates! New trade indicators have been added to the Competitiveness module, allowing users to better assess how their tariffs and prices compare with their competitors’. Data have also been updated to offer more accurate and up-to-date trade information. Moreover, users now have access to trade-related indicators by sector, empowering them to evaluate performance across six different sectors and 17 sub-sectors. We also have good news for companies! A beta version of the business matchmaking module is now live. It will allow companies from across West Africa to promote their products and services, find each other, connect, and collaborate. Explore the revamped website and take advantage of these exciting new features today! |
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AFRICAN TRADE OBSERVATORY Supporting Africa’s trade ecosystem |
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The final quarter of 2023 has been a period of vibrant activity and strategic advancements for the African Trade Observatory (ATO). In November, the spotlight shone on the Intra-African Trade Fair, held in November in Cairo, where the ATO showcased its pivotal role to enhance regional integration. High-level discussions, including a notable panel on November 9th and 10th, co-organized with AUC and EU, focused on leveraging AfCFTA opportunities, emphasizing the transformative power of trade data in shaping policies and business strategies in Africa. “We cannot improve what we cannot measure,” ITC Director of Market Development Division, Mondher Mimouni, underscored the importance of data-based evidence in decision making, which was strongly echoed by Deputy Secretary General of the East African Community, Annette Mutaawe Ssemuwemba. |
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The ATO was also featured in various IATF sessions as well as national workshops in Tanzania, Malawi and Angola organized by UNECA and ITC. Parallel to these dialogues and workshops, a series of initiatives in trade in services were underway. In Malawi, a significant milestone was reached with the successful hosting of the second technical meeting with all relevant stakeholder in October, laying the groundwork for an upcoming technical workshop on trade in travel services, scheduled in February 2024. Meanwhile, a first stakeholders’ consultation took place in Kenya on enhancing the visibility and accessibility of strategic information for foreign investors. |
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This initiative, featuring key investment data and tools, aims to streamline connections between foreign investors and local businesses, fostering a nurturing environment for investment growth. This activity is part of ATO objective of piloting the enhancement of online investment promotion information in three countries. As we transition into 2024, the start of these new activities in trade in services and investment portals are just the beginning of a broader, sustained effort to enhance intra-African trade. Next year will also be the occasion of launching the ATO capacity building programme for AUC and RECs’ experts. |
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| Discover now |
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GLOBAL TRADE HELPDESK Building skills of BSOs and entrepreneurs
from Asia, Africa, Latin America and beyond |
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The Global Trade Helpdesk platform simplifies market research for small businesses and is an integrated tool to make identifying and comparing opportunities faster, easier and more efficient. The multiagency GTH team has been working with a number of countries and institutions to reach new businesses over the last three months. This included a second Digital Export Enablement Programme (DEEP) workshop in Hanoi in collaboration with Google, ICC, WIPO and the Vietnamese E-commerce Association. Through the DEEP programme, over 580 ASEAN SMEs have strengthened their skills in market analysis and digital marketing. |
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The Open webinar on Simplifying your Trade Journey with Digital Tools: Global Trade Helpdesk and Trade4MSMEs on November 30th brought together over 120 participants from more than 50 economies.The GTH platform was also showcased in a UPS and SheTrades webinar series in Mexico focusing on empowering women-led firms in their export journeys. The Global Trade Helpdesk team also took part in a training session at the UN Arab SME Summit in Marrakech on Dec 12-14th on Trade Intelligence Tools for SMEs as part of the Export Readiness series. What can you expect in 2024? GTH will be made available in new languages including Mandarin and Bahasa, among others. It will also become more accessible through technological upgrading to faciliate data-driven decision-making for businesses. |
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CAPACITY BUILDING ON THE ITC TOOLS Eswatini: Promoting growth through competitive alliances II |
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Update from Eswatini! Our recent workshop took place in November 2023. We deep dived into the Rules of Origin under the Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the Southern African Development Community (EU-SADC EPA) and helped participants to assess and calculate “Made in Eswatini” products. The complementary rollout of an in-depth training on the Harmonized System (HS) classification and the General Rules for the Interpretation (GRIs) of the HS during this workshop empowered the participants to apply change in tariff classification rules like never before. |
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The training brought together 17 specialists from several public and private institutions, most of whom had previously attended the Quantitative Export Factsheet workshop held in March 2023 and the Understanding the EU-SADC EPA workshop held in July 2023. With this third workshop, ITC has successfully established a pool of experts in Eswatini with a high level of knowledge and commitment to empower local businesses to benefit from the EPA. They cannot wait to assist MSMEs in navigating the Rules of Origin and leveraging market access opportunities provided by the EU-SADC EPA agreement, thereby contributing to the growth and success of businesses in the region. |
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Sharing Trade and Market Intelligence with Indian Trade Service officers |
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On 21 November 2023, TMI presented its online tools to a delegation of nine Indian Trade Service officers in Geneva. Detailed live demonstrations of the tools were followed by lively discussions. Participants showed a strong interest in the tools and indicated that they will be able to apply their new knowledge in their daily work. |
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ITC TOOLS DATA UPDATES Trade Map - Trade in goods |
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QUARTERLY AND MONTHLY DATA We are pleased to share that data for Q3 of 2023 is now available 65 countries, accounting for 85% of global trade in goods. The Trade Map team also started uploading data for Oct-2023, which is now available for 31 countries, representing 60% of global trade in goods. |
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For those interested in the freshest monthly data, we invite you to visit our Data Availability page. There, you can effortlessly access the most recent data for your product and country of interest. Our chart provides insights into the latest available period for monthly data, the number of countries covered, and the corresponding share of global trade they represent. |
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GLOBAL TRADE INDICATORS The 2022 Trade Indicators are now updated! Curious to explore the latest trade developments? Look no further than Trade Map, your go-to resource for up-to-date information, and discover the recent trends for a product/country of your interest. You can now use the 2022 indicators based on data reported by 149 countries (in blue on the map), accounting for more than 96% of global trade in goods. |
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Trade Map - Trade in services |
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GLOBAL PICTURE Throughout 2023, numerous countries and territories worldwide dedicated significant efforts to measure international trade in services. As of now, data from 183 countries for the year 2022 has been reported, encompassing over 99% of global trade. Analysis of trade in services by service item and partner country is now possible for 51 countries. Start your analysis of trade in services with Trade Map now. |
GEORGIA: DETAILED TRADE IN SERVICES DATA BY PARTNER COUNTRY NOW ACCESSIBLE On 14 December 2023, Georgia was granted the EU candidate status. To mark this milestone, we are happy to share that Trade Map now contains bilateral data on trade in services by Georgia. Do you wish to find out who are the principal markets for Georgian exports, for example of transport services? |
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Check the freshly published bilateral data and find out what is the importance of trade with the EU or the ranking of trade flows with other countries from the Eastern Partnership region, i.e., with Azerbaijan, Armenia, Ukraine, or Moldova. ITC is pleased to have collaborated with Geostat under the Eastern Partnership Trade Helpdesk project, assisting Geostat in refining the transport module of the international trade in services survey to acquire more detailed trade data in terms of transport mode and per partner country. Take a sneak peek at our brief video. |
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Export Potential Map |
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In October, Export Potential Map extended its export potential estimates to 2028, incorporating trade data through 2022, updated GDP and population growth projections, and the 2022 revision to the Harmonized System (HS) nomenclature. The recent update also incorporated non-hazardous waste products such as scrap paper, cotton waste, and used textiles. |
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