WadeTradeNews

Welcome to Wade Trade News import and export news for February 2008. Read on for more news-you-can-use and great trading opportunities you can take advantage of in Malaysia, Ukraine, Turkey, the Cote d'Ivoire - and opportunities in trading flowers and diamonds.

US-Malaysia FTA Due
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The USA is expected to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with Malaysia by this summer, following good progress on several issues during the sixth round of talks held recently. Although the four issues discussed in this round of talks (investment, goods and services, intellectual property and legal issues) have yet to be finalised, both sides have made good progress - US Assistant Trade Representative Barbara Weisel said at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

MATRADE should be your first point of contact if you want to trade with Malaysia. The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation is the national trade promotion agency. It provides overseas offices, markets, trade missions and online trade services: www.matrade.gov.my.

Ukraine WTO Membership Imminent
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Ukraine's World Trade Organisation membership is imminent, now that final negotiations between the Ukraine and the EU have been concluded. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Hryhoriy Nemyrya finalised the terms of the agreement at a recent meeting in London. Mandelson said 'This is an important day for Ukraine. The EU has always been a firm supporter of Ukraine's WTO membership. This agreement clears the way for Ukraine finally to join the world trading system. It is the first step towards greater Ukrainian integration with the global and the European economy.'

At the moment it's still tricky to find good Ukraine trade sites. The Kyiv Post (www.kyivpost.com) is good for news and information. Also try the Government Portal site at www.kmu.gov.ua, while there are some useful contacts at www.ukraine.org/links.html (some links are broken though).

Why Not Trade .... Diamonds ?
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Antwerp in Belgium is generally regarded as the centre of the world diamond trade - and business here grew briskly in 2007, according to statistics from the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (www.awdc.be).

Polished diamond exports rose 7.2% in terms of volume, and 13% in terms of value to US$10.7 billion. The volume of polished imports showed a 5% increase and value rose 11% to US$10 billion. Rough diamond exports also grew 15% in value, while imports grew 10% in value.

Turkey Targeting More EU Trade
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Turkey is keen to do more business with the European Union (EU) by setting up more business centres across the country in 2008. Tamer Taskin, an official from Executive Board of the Union of Chambers & Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), recently announced that the new centres would initially be opened in the western city of Izmir, north western city of Kocaeli and south eastern city of Gaziantep.

According to Taskin, the centres aim to improve local business competitiveness and help them to win new orders from companies in the European Union. Since the first centres opened in 2002 more than 150 companies have begun to export to the EU.

German Economic Prospects Gloomy
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Germany's economic growth will probably slowdown in 2008 due to domestic inflation pressures and the impact of the US subprime mortgage crisis. And Germany should be prepared for slower economic growth over the next year. So said Chancellor Angela Merkel at a recent conference. German Economics Minister Michael Glos added that German economic growth in 2008 is likely to miss the October 2007 estimate of 2%. Also, Germany's business confidence dropped to the lowest point in two years last month: The Munich-based Ifo Institute (www.cesifo.de) announced recently that its monthly business confidence indicator slipped from 104.2 in November to 103.0 - the lowest figure since January 2006.

Flower Power Arrives In Ethiopia
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The floricultural industry is set to become one of Ethiopia's major industries within the next few years. The country earned more than US$125 million from flower exports in 2007 - a 500% increase on the 2006 figure. Thanks to government incentives and strong market conditions worldwide exporters are expecting earnings of US$1.4 billion within five years - more than Ethiopia's entire exports in 2006.

Over a hundred foreign firms are now cultivating flowers here. Of these eight operate in Holeta - which is becoming one of Ethiopia's flower capitals, according to the Ethiopian trade ministry. Tsegaye Abebe, the Head of the Ethiopia Horticultural Producers and Exporters Association (www.ehpea.org.et) said 'By developing 70,000 hectares of land for vegetables and fruits, as well as another 4,500 hectares for flowers, we anticipate a major increase in production.'

Cote d'Ivoire-EU Trade Deal Agreed
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The Cote d'Ivoire has agreed an interim trade agreement with the European Union (EU) before preferential trade terms expire at the end of this year - and anticipates better trading opportunities will follow. The agreement covers market access and promoting cooperation. Cote d'Ivoire and the EU will also continue negotiating on a broader Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

Cote d'Ivoire is a member of the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS. ECOWAS (which has a handy website at www.ecowas.int) has 15 other members who are also negotiating trade agreements with the EU. However, some of the countries are worried their domestic industries may suffer if they have to compete with imports from the EU.

Wade World Trade : Your Expert In International Trade
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