WADE TRADE NEWS
Volume 5, Issue 11 : November 2006

Dear Subscriber

Welcome to the November edition of Wade Trade News - the latest edition of Wade World Trade's own free bulletin of news and hot tips in international trade that are worth following up. This month you'll discover leads and information covering Bulgaria, Romania, Vietnam, Uganda and Malaysia and the shoe industry .... and a couple of websites that you really will find invaluable!

EU Approves Bulgaria and Romania
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The news that the European Commission has announced Romania and Bulgaria will be admitted to the EU in January 2007 should begin to get trading opportunities there moving at last. Bulgaria's PM said the move was 'the fall of the Berlin Wall for his nation.' Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu said his people should be proud of themselves, but should not make the mistake of thinking that accession would mean all the country's problems would be solved.

There are already quite a few good trading sites in English for both Bulgaria and Romania. We'll be profiling some of them in the coming months. For starters take a look at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce & Industry at www.bcci.bg and the Romanian Trade Promotion Centre at www.traderom.ro.

Vietnam Farm Exports Increasing
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Vietnam is becoming a significant source of farm products. The country exported more than US$5.3 billion worth of farm and forestry products in the first nine months of 2006, a rise of over 20.5%. Between January and September, items recording high export growth included rubber up 97.1% to US$946 million; coffee up 37.2% to US$803 million; pepper up 35.4% to US$159 million and timber up 23.8% to nearly US$1.4 billion - according to the Trade Information Center at the Trade Ministry (www.mot.gov.vn - English version available). To export more farm and forest products, Vietnam is focussing on building brands, registering product trademarks, improving quality, exploiting traditional markets such as China, the USA, Japan and the EU while seeking new ones. Vietnam hopes to export over US$7.3 billion worth of agriculture, forestry and fishery products in 2006, up from nearly US$6.9 billion in 2005, the centre said. 
 
World Bank To Support Uganda's Export Drive
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The World Bank (www.worldbank.org) will continue to support Uganda's efforts to remove trade barriers hindering its export potential, the Bank's Country Manager Grace Yabrudy has said. Yabrudy was recently quoted as saying that the removal of trade barriers would also create more jobs, restore sustainable income growth and eventually economic growth: 'Uganda has over the past two decades achieved an average per capita income growth of 3.5%, remarkable by world standards. However, recent slower growth and rising inequalities raise concern that there are persistent obstacles to reducing poverty,' she said. She added the country's competitiveness in export trade is hindered by the high costs of power, transport and finance, and poor sanitary measures amongst others.

Uganda's top exports including coffee, fish and flowers are sold to the EU, the USA and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, earning the country over US$812 million. Try the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry at www.mtti.go.ug for information - there's a good trade links page.

EU Improving Links With Malaysia
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The European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner recently led a five-member EU delegation to Malaysia to seek ways to promote ties with the country. Waldner met with Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar and Tun Musa Hitam, Chairman of the ASEAN Eminent Person's Group, to discuss ways to further enhance relations between Malaysia and the EU - according to the Malaysian Foreign Ministry. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues.
 
The EU currently is Malaysia's fourth largest trading partner. In 2005, total trade was valued at 113.1 billion ringgit (US$30.5 billion) with Malaysia's exports to the EU posting 62.6 billion ringgit (US$17 billion).  The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation at www.matrade.gov.my is a good starting point for Malaysia opportunities.

More Opportunities For Inter-EU Shoe Trade ?
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China has criticised the newly imposed European Union tariff on Chinese shoes - but it may lead to more opportunities to import-export shoes between EU countries. An official with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said that the European Commission had violated the principle of free and fair trade advocated by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in its investigation and ruling on the case. The new measures would damage Chinese shoe makers but could not benefit the EU, said the official. The EU's final ruling states that shoes from China are subject to 16.5% duty for two years until October 2008. 
 
According to EU figures, China exported 1.25 billion pairs of shoes to Europe in 2005 and holds 50% of the European market. Chinese figures show that China exported 700 million pairs of shoes to Europe in 2004. For more information on the shoe industry try the British Footwear Association at www.britfoot.com and the European Footwear Manufacturers Confederation (CEC) at www.cecshoe.be. Major EU shoe producing countries including Portugal, Spain and Italy are expected to benefit from the duty.

One For Your Favourites !
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It's not very often that I recommend adding a website to your favourites list - but Alibaba is one that I think you should. www.alibaba.com is an English-language website primarily serving small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's) in the international trade community, with more than two million registered users from over 200 countries and territories. More than 500,000 people visit the site every day, most of them global buyers and importers looking to find and trade with sellers in China and other major manufacturing countries. It claims to be the largest B2B marketplace in the world.

On one recent visit I found the following useful and potentially lucrative offers : coconut oil, air bikes, children's furniture, cane sugar, Nissan cars, costumes, wallpaper, GSM phones, transfer paper, swimwear, vending machines, faux fur, laptops, milk powder, scooters, candy, artificial flowers, greeting cards, photo albums, hair dye, billiard tables, data cable, silk fabric, cultured stone, slippers, sports equipment, wood flooring, DVD cases, audio, computer mouse, T shirts, granite, packaging, tubes, toys and thongs!

World Facts & Figures …. At Your Fingertips
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Are you researching a new market and need facts, figures and good quality background information. Do you need to know the population of Argentina, what the chief industries of Denmark are or what's imported into Algeria? Do you need to know the official name of Thailand, or how the political situation in Panama might affect trading there?

If so, you could spend a few hours in the library. But a much quicker and convenient way is to visit this site : World Facts and Figures at www.worldfactsandfigures.com. It's well worth a visit for import-export research, and also contains assorted information such as weather information, details of national flags and even maps too.
 
We Have The Expertise !
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Whatever kinds of products, or whatever countries, you'd like to develop trading opportunities with Wade World Trade can help. Over 60 years in business Wade World Trade has developed an expert knowledge of almost every country and product imaginable, so we have the expertise you need to start or develop your import-export business. Our products and services include professional courses, manuals, advice, information, online resources, worldwide trade and business contacts, free advertising and much, much more.

For full details of the help we can offer you visit our website at www.wadeworldtrade.com now!


Best Regards


Mark Hempshell
Editor