All Articles Tagged "exports"
African Leaders Negotiate a Free Trade Zone
(Christian Science Monitor) — Trade officials from across Africa met in Johannesburg this week to announce the formal start of negotiations toward a free trade zone that would stretch the length of the continent, incorporating more than 500 million people, 26 countries, and nearly a trillion dollars of economic output. The proposed deal, which would eliminate many trade barriers between participating countries, would merge three existing trade blocs in eastern, central, and southern Africa. It would include Africa’s two biggest economies (South Africa and Egypt) and its fastest growing (the Democratic Republic of Congo,Zimbabwe, and Botswana). The project, which has been dubbed the “African Grand Free Trade Area,” is a bold idea, but not a new one. African leaders first made their plans for a 26-country trading bloc public at a summit in Uganda in October 2008. Since then, they have made little progress toward that goal.
Do Your Homework Before Going Global
(Inc.) — We’re not nearly as globalized as we think we are, says Pankaj Ghemawat, a professor of global strategy at Spain’s IESE Business School and author of the new book World 3.0 (Harvard Business Review Press). In fact, says Ghemawat, who was a professor at Harvard Business School for 25 years, cross-border trade accounts for only a quarter of worldwide economic activity. And that number appears to be shrinking: In the wake of the recent economic crisis, many countries are retrenching and attempting to isolate themselves from foreign economic problems. That’s not to say there aren’t opportunities abroad. By recognizing that borders still matter, says Ghemawat, companies can better calibrate which markets and trading partners offer the best chance for truly global gains. Inc. contributor Ryan Underwood spoke with Ghemawat about how businesses should approach a global strategy.
Government to Urge Small Businesses to Export
(Wall Street Journal) — Top U.S. trade officials plan to spread out across the country this year to recruit small-business owners in the administration’s effort to double exports by 2015. A year after President Barack Obama announced the export initiative to help tackle stubbornly high unemployment, the administration is trying to reach out to the group of business owners that account for nearly two-thirds of job creation but less than a third of total goods sold abroad. ”For America to win the future, more small and medium-size businesses must export, because the more small businesses export, the more they produce; the more they produce, the more workers they need, and that means good-paying jobs here at home,” U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a statement announcing the outreach program.
