International Trade Centre - ITC

Who we are:

International Trade Centre (ITC) is the development partner for small business export success in developing countries. Since 1964, the ITC has helped to enable small business export success in developing countries by providing trade development programmes to the private sector, trade support institutions and policymakers.

ITC works in partnership with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), supporting their regulatory, research and policy strategies and helping to turn them into practical projects.

Making trade work for development and poverty reduction means creating an enabling business environment and helping companies access the resources they need to become internationally competitive. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the engines of export growth for developing countries. Harnessing the untapped potential of these enterprises is a key policy objective for governments and the mission of the ITC.

What we do:

ITC’s mission is to enable small business export success in developing countries by providing, with partners, sustainable and inclusive trade development solutions to the private sector, trade support institutions and policymakers. ITC programmes and projects are directed towards the achievement of the following three strategic objectives:

• Enterprises: Strengthen the international competitiveness of enterprises
• Trade support institutions (TSIs): Develop the capacity of trade service providers to support businesses.
• Policymakers: Support policymakers in integrating the business sector into the global economy.

In Mozambique ITC’s work is focussed on five complementary business services:

Business and trade Policy: ITC ensures that business priorities are integrated into national trade policies and that small business needs are taken into consideration in the negotiation of international trade agreements. ITC helps small businesses to conduct business strategically in today’s increasingly competitive global trading system., and we actively link businesses with policymakers through local trade support institutions.

Export Strategy: ITC supports policymakers and governments, as well as enterprises, to develop successful export development strategies, compatible with national planning frameworks and action plans proposed in diagnostic studies.

Strengthening TSIs: ITC plays a critical role in the strengthening the delivery of TSIs, in particular Trade Promotion Organisations, and in the development of TSI networks. ITC develops and implements benchmarking methodologies and tools to enable TSIs to network more effectively and measure their performance at the international level.

Trade intelligence: ITC provides trade data, information, analysis and related capacity building to enterprises, TSIs and policymakers to facilitate decision-making on export-related matters.

Exporter Competitiveness: ITC develops and delivers tools and services responding to the specific needs of exporting enterprises, with the aim of making them more competitive. Areas covered include enterprise management, supply chain management, quality and standards, export packaging, logistics and distribution.

Where we work:

With its headquarters in Geneva, ITC works in developing countries and transition economies in Africa, Asia and Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Arab States.

For more information:

Visit ITC website at: www.intracen.org.

Contact person for Mozambique: Ms. Roswitha Franz, franz@intracen.org.