Global Trade Organisations & Resources

The United Nations | World Bank | OECD | IPAnet | GATT & other Orgs

The United Nations

• UNIDO, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, has been working with governments, business associations and individual companies to solve industrial problems - and equip them to help themselves - for more than 30 years. With the march of globalization, UNIDO has never been needed more.
  
  United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs
  
  ITC  is the technical cooperation arm of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for operational and enterprise-oriented aspects of international trade development. As the United Nations focal point for technical cooperation in trade promotion ITC works with developing countries and economies in transition to set up effective trade promotion programmes for expanding their exports and improving their import operations.

  Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is the largest autonomous agency within the United Nations system.  The Organization's
  1998-1999 biennial budget is set at $650 million and FAO-assisted projects attract more than $3 000 million per year from donor agencies and governments for investment in agricultural and rural development projects.

  UNCTAD-TRAINS (TRade Analysis and INformation System)
  is a comprehensive computerized information system at the HS-based tariff line level covering tariff, para-tariff and non-tariff measures as well as import flows by origin for more than 100 countries.

  UNCTAD's Division on Investment, Technology and Enterprise
  Development promotes understanding on investment, enterprise development and technological capacity building issues, and assists governments to formulate and carry out policies, strategies and programmes in these areas.

  The BIOTRADE Initiative the mission of the BIOTRADE Initiative is to stimulate investment and trade in biological resources to promote: (1) conservation of biodiversity; (2) the sustainable use of its components; and (3) a fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of biological resources.

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  World Bank, OECD, IPAnet

• World Bank's International Economics Department dedicated to collecting and analyzing data on world commodities. The Unit, headed by Takamasa Akiyama, publishes a variety of reports and working papers, including The Pink Sheet, a monthly analysis of commodity prices.
• The Investment Promotion Agency Network (IPAnet) The IPAnet is an exciting initiative of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a member of the World Bank Group. IPAnet, which was launched in October 1995, aims is to provide global information exchange, marketing and communications network on foreign direct investment-related matters. You must register to gain access
• Information on the OECD The OECD is an international organisation with 27 Member countries from North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific area. Collectively, OECD countries produce more than half of the world's goods and services and its Members include most of the world's largest economies.

  World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only international organization dealing with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.

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  Law, GATT & other Organisations

• International Trade Law Project by Ralph Amissah
• University of Minnesota Gopher listing of international organizations
• The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) the ISO is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from some 100 countries, one from each country.
  
  The Asia Foundation is a private, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization working to advance the mutual interests of the United States and the Asia Pacific region.

  World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies

  International Association of Cities and Ports
  
  COMESA Home Page Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)

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  What's New

• The Export Credit Guarantee Department ECGD is a Government Department, created in 1919 to promote UK exports by insuring them against the risks of non-payment by overseas buyers.

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