The International Trade Centre (ITC) has launched a comprehensive, interactive trilingual online version of its Cotton Exporter’s Guide as an outreach to improve the skills and abilities of developing countries in cotton trading and marketing. The ITC’s latest press release stated the new online initiative featured an open source content management platform that will enable users to update information on recent trends in cotton trade.
The ITC is the technical cooperation agency of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). It largely helps businesses across the world to interpret the WTO rules and also to develop strategies for businesses to enhance trade.
The online guide is a reference source that contains pragmatic and operational information on the international cotton market. The objective is to provide all those engaged in producing and exporting cotton to be knowledgeable about the nuances of the international cotton trade.
Ms. Patricia R. Francis, ITC's Executive Director said, “Our aim is to reach out to cotton stakeholders around the world and stimulate cotton trade, especially in the poorest African countries.” While Matthias Knappe, ITC’s Program Manager for Cotton, Textiles and Clothing remarked the completion of the online version of the Cotton Exporter’s Guide was an important step in further enhancing its capacity-building activities in cotton trading and marketing.
The development of the Cotton Exporter’s Guide, including its on-line version, was funded by the
Government of Denmark. It is available in English, French and Spanish at these web addresses:
http://www.cottonguide.org/http://www.guidedecoton.org/http://www.guiadealgodon.org/As per the guide, it is targeting all cotton producers, ginners, exporters and traders in cotton producing developing countries, particularly in Africa. It also offers an overview on the world cotton market (production, consumption and trade), analysis of factors influencing supply and demand, market trends and major issues affecting the industry, including trade policy and the WTO issues.
By Jose Roy