2008 Digging for Gold1

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CBI EXPORT MANUAL: DIGGING FOR GOLD

CBI EXPORT MANUAL

DIGGING FOR GOLDInternet as a source for EU market information

Compiled for CBI by:Facts Figures Future




Source: CBI Market Information Database • URL: www.cbi.eu • Contact: [email protected] • www.cbi.eu/disclaimer

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3 1 SEARCHING 4 1.1 Information need 4 1.2 Search instruments 4 1.2.1 Search engines 4 1.2.2 Directories and portals 5 1.2.3 Links 6 1.2.4 Databases 7 1.2.5 News feeds 8 1.3 Judging and evaluating 8 2 SEARCH ENGINES 10 2.1 Google 10 2.2 Search engines per EU-country / per subject 19 2.3 Help function 19 3 PRACTICAL TIPS 20 3.1 Surfing suggestions 20 3.2 Management of favorites 23 3.3 Translating 27 3.4 Online communities 27 4 USEFUL WEBSITES EU MARKET 29 4.1 EU market information (general) 29 4.2 EU country information 42 4.3 Trade fairs 43 4.4 Finding buyers in the EU 43 4.5 Market access requirements 50 4.6 E-markets 51 4.7 News and trends 51 4.8 Sector specific portals (prices, latest news) 52 4.9 Exchange rates 53

August 2008 (Update)

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INTRODUCTION

“Amazing what you can learn through the Internet”

Mr Dieterich of Orga Schiedam (the Netherlands): “On the Internet, I found the whole market,

the suppliers, the customers, prices. In short, everything could be found on the Internet.” (Source: Fenedexpress)

The Internet contains many precious treasures. Information on EU countries, markets, buyers,

trade fairs and other marketing and useful information is freely available. However, thechallenge is to locate these resources!

The Internet is an excellent tool to start your EU market research. You can find, for example,

trade statistics, market studies, potential buyers, product information, market accessrequirements and even tools to translate websites! At the same time, the Internet can be usedto locate experts in your industry in the target country. You could do some primary research

by approaching these experts –such as consultants, importers, agents and representatives of trade associations- by mail or telephone to ask them for their opinion. The Internet can make

you rich in market knowledge!

This manual helps you to dig for gold on the Internet. It is a framework which you can use asyour personal Internet manual. It contains tips on how to search the Internet effectively,explanations about search engines and some very useful websites. These are general websites,

offering you access to marketing data on all EU-countries. They are the starting point for yourinformation search on EU-markets. This manual is especially geared towards exporters fromdeveloping countries, as well as Business Support Organisations in these countries. Werecommend using it in combination with the CBI’s Export Manual ‘Your Guide to Market

Research’.

In section 1 you will find the most relevant searching tools and tips and tricks on how to usethem well. The best search engine at the moment is Google, which will be the subject of section 2. Some practical tips such as making use of Favourites can be found in section 3.Finally, section 4 will conclude with some very useful websites providing access to marketing

information on all EU-countries: market information, business directories, e-markets andmore.

We wish you good digging!

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1 SEARCHING

Where in the jungle of Web pages can you find the pages that are relevant for you? Byfollowing an efficient search strategy you can find more relevant information more quickly. Inthe following sections, we give you three steps to enable you to search on the Internet in amore focused way.

1) Determining information need (section 1.1);

2) Choosing the search instrument to be used (section 1.2);3) Judging and evaluating the result (section 1.3).

1.1 Information needIt is of the utmost importance that you precisely determine what you are looking for before youstart any search. This way, you will avoid a search result with too much irrelevant data. Asking

the right questions is essential on the Internet. Searching on the Internet starts with determiningthe information need and defining the problem. Concrete definitions and circumscribing thesubject well are very important as regards making use of the internet for research purposes.

Let us provide an imaginary example. An exporter from South Africa wants to sell flowers in

Germany and wants to investigate what this market looks like. The information need of thiscompany comprises flowers and Germany. However, these subjects are not clear enough. If wesearch with these two words, the report ‘The market for ornamental products in Germany’ will not

be found, although we know that there is enough information to be found on this subject.

SynonymsTherefore, it is important to determine a number of search terms for each subject which describes

the subject more effectively. Synonyms for the search term ‘flowers’ can be, for example: cut

flowers, fresh flowers, horticulture and/or floriculture. You can broaden the term Germany with,for example, Europe.

1.2 Search instrumentsThere are several instruments you can use to find information on the Internet. In the followingsubsections, the following instruments will be clarified:

1. search engines;2. portals and directories;3. links;4. databases;

5. news feeds

1.2.1 Search enginesA search engine is a large database that searches many Web pages on the World Wide Web.After inserting a keyword or phrase, a list of Internet addresses will appear that match yourcriteria. Although the list is often sorted according to relevance, irrelevant documents will alsousually be found. To prevent this, you need to make your search criteria as specific and concreteas possible. The search engine is a robot and thus needs clear instructions from the user! Youmay find different results when using different search engines, because each search engine hasits own searching technique and search area. The ‘perfect’ search engine has yet to be made.

“Google reports that it has indexed 1 trillion web pages, and they have not covered it all”.Source: http://www.pandia.com (July 28, 2008)

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The best-known and most frequently used search engine at this moment isGoogle (http://www.google.com). More information on Google can befound in section 2.1.

Tip: make use of more than one search engine

No search engine indexes all the sites on the Web. If the result of a quest in one particular

search engine is not satisfactory, then try at least one other search engine. Choose two orthree engines which you prefer to work with and learn how they work.

1.2.2 Directories and portalsDirectories and portals are two other tools to find information on the Internet. They form astructured collection of data composed by humans (and not purely by software, as with searchengines!). These ‘cyber editors’ judge the different websites per subject and categorise these.

The advantage of composing the database in this way is that they are composed and chosenby experts who have knowledge of the subject area concerned.

DirectoryDirectories are websites that organise subjects on theInternet in different categories; each category is built

hierarchically. This way you can build your search andnarrow it down from a general subject to a specificsubject. A famous example of a directory is Yahoohttp://www.search.yahoo.com/dir . You can also start asearch within a directory by means of a keyword. Contraryto using a search engine, this search action only takesplace within the directory!

PortalsPortals are an even more narrow starting point for your search than directories. It is a websitefocused on one specific category, for example, international trade or a specific sector, that

functions as an entrance to other sites within that category. A very useful portal in the field of international trade is http://www.fita.org. It features a comprehensive and searchable

database with links to thousands of websites about international trade. As an example, thefollowing selection can be made:1. ‘Really useful links’, followed by2. ‘Business Directories and Trade Information’, then hit3. ‘Industry Specific Directories‘ and then choose a product,4. ‘Textiles and Apparel Directories’ (for example).

Here a number of websites are given about the chosen product only, e.g. trade associationsand/or marketplaces. These can be used to find market information, prices, manufacturers,

traders, processors, market demands and so on. Refer to figure 1.1.

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Figure 1.1 Portal FITA

Some more examples of very useful portals can be found in section 4.8.

1.2.3 LinksOnce you find a good website, always check the links! These external links form a goodstarting point for continued searching on the Internet. You can link further from the site youfound in this way and hence the ‘snow ball’ effect continues.

A good example is the CBI’s website (http://www.cbi.eu), where you will find the MarketInformation Database (refer to chapter 4). Once you select a document, you will find several

relevant links for the chosen sector on the right side of the screen. See figure 1.2 for anexample.

In 3 clicks tospecific

websites aboute.g. textiles

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Figure 1.2 Relevant links at http://www.cbi.eu

1.2.4 DatabasesThe Internet contains a large number of databases notfound by search engines. Should all these be counted,then the Internet might be 500 times

(!) as large as it already is now.These databases may containstatistics, but also market reports ornews articles. What these databases

have in common is that they are partof an internal searchable part of awebsite. They often containinformation published by

governments, universities or tradepromotion associations. An exampleof a valuable database is the

website of the Foreign Agricultural Service of the USDA where many market and productreports can be selected. There are many more databases; these will be explained in section 4.

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1.2.5 News feedsNews feeds allow you to see whenwebsites have added new content.These feeds are also known as RSS('Really Simple Syndication'). RSS

allows you to easily stay informed by

retrieving the latest content from the sites youare interested in, such as the CBI, news papers

or vertical portals. You save time by notneeding to visit each site individually!

This way, you can ‘subscribe’ yourself to news

that is posted by relevant websites. You are, forexample, also able to pull in the latest tradingoffers as published by e-market Alibaba.

How does it work?In general, the first thing you need issomething called a news reader. This is a piece

of software that checks the news feeds and letsyou read any new articles that have beenadded. There are many different versions, some of which are accessed using a browser, andsome of which are downloadable applications. There is a range of different news readers

available; they work on different operating systems. For Windows, some available ones arehttp://www.awasu.com or http://www.feedreader.com/. If you run Mac, go tohttp://www.newsfirerss.com or http://www.newsgator.com, for example. Go to

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS f or more details.

Once you have chosen a news reader, all you have to do is to decide what content you want itto receive.

1.3 Judging and evaluatingIt will be clear to you now that there is no unambiguous way of searching for information on

the Internet. The desired result will often be reached by using a combination of methods andinstruments. When the result has eventually been found, the question may arise to whatextent the data found will be good and trustworthy. Below you will find a number of tips andsuggestions that may help you on your search quest.

AuthorityAsk yourself the following questions:• Is it clear who the writer is and what his status is?• Is it a commercial, personal, governmental or academic website?• Is it clear why the document was actually written?

For example, a report on orange juice in Spain can be made from the perspective of growersor processors of oranges, governmental offices making legislation on packaging methods or

the wholesale/retail trade. Think about their possible motives in making that report on orange juice, such as selling information, recruiting members or ‘selling’ an opinion. In general,

reports made by governments or non profit organisations, such as the CBI, are quite neutraland reliable.

Further, by means of the Top Level Domain name the trustworthiness of a site can often be

determined. A governmental institution (.gov) can be considered as having good sources, asmay non-profit organisations (.org). The presence of an address and telephone number alsogives an indication of the trustworthiness of the site and the organisation behind it.

Stay tuned: receivetrade offers from Alibabathrough RSS!

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Content• Is the text of the site written correctly?

• Is the information on the site good and accurately documented?

Update

• Does the page indicate when it was changed for the last time? Is the page outdated?

PopularityYou could also use the popularity of a website by analysing the number of hyperlinks to thatspecific website. Google calls this the ‘link popularity’. The more hyperlinks to a specificwebsite, the higher its quality apparently is. It is a rough way of measuring quality, yet it maybe useful. To check the link popularity of, for example, the CBI’s website, go to

http://www.google.com and key in the command ‘link:’ www.cbi.eu’ .

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2 SEARCH ENGINES

Each search engine has its own methods and techniques of looking for the most relevant hits.Therefore, the results may vary for each search engine and each subject. This is due to thefact that each search engine has:

•

Its own system of gathering sites and fill the database• Its own system of organising the site in the database

• Its own way of searching in a database

• Its own way of determining relevance and presentation

Therefore, we recommend that you learn how to work with a number of search engines andhow to use their possibilities in the most optimal way. We advise you to start with Google. This

search engine will be explained extensively in this section. An overview site for search engines,Whitelines, will be explained in section 2.2. Here you will find overviews of specific searchengines, while background information is also available. Some tips on the Help function will

follow in section 2.3.

2.1 Google

The biggest search engine at this time is Google (http://www.google.com). This section givesyou some specific tools to optimise your skills in using this search engine.

Combining queriesCombining queries in Google is simple: you do not have to use Boolean operators. More than

one keyword is already seen as a combination. A ‘+’ or ‘AND’ command is not necessary.

Open results in new browserWhen searching, you may want to check more than one (Google) search result. To avoidrepeating the same search with the same keywords, you may decide to open the results in anew browser. In Google, it goes like this: click on ‘preferences’ on the right side of the Googlesearch bar. Then tick the box ‘Open search results in a new browser window’ under ‘resultswindow’. Then save these preferences by clicking the button ‘save preferences’.

Advanced SearchWith the "Advanced Search" option you will be able to search for better results in less time. Gothere by hitting ‘advanced search’ from the Google main page. This function is given in theform of a ‘scroll-down menu’.

Quotation inventor of Google:"Google is a wonderful example of what may happen in the future. Our system contains more

knowledge than any living creature. But what the future will be like, I have no clue. In thesearch window of Google I gave in ‘future of the Internet’ hoping that I would find a ready answer. But it did not work. So I guess we will have to continue working on Google.” (source: ‘the success of Google’)

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With the advanced search you can:1. Do a single word search2. Do an exact phrase search3. Do a search with two or more exact phrases4. Use alternative terms

5. Add another term

6. Exclude a term7. Search by file format and more

8. Specify a domain9. Search by date of publication

All these options will be described below.

1) Single word searchType ‘medical’ in the box Find web pages that have: all these words. Then click on theAdvanced Search button.

The first 10 results (Web pages) will be presented (although in this image the page has beentruncated). At the top of the list the number of separate Web pages retrieved is displayed (inthis case almost 626 million!). Search terms are highlighted (in bold text):

Your search appears automatically

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Fortunately, Google lists the results in such a way that those likely to contain quality

information on the search topic appear at the top of the list. Each retrieved page is ranked,relative to the others in the result, according to the number of links other sites have made toit. On the basis that the more other Web authors link to a particular site, the higher itsperceived quality (in terms of design and content), this ranking is, therefore, a useful indicatorof relative site quality. But remember, the ranking of results is only a guide - you still need toscroll through and evaluate the top ranked results for relevance and quality.

Please also note that quality sites will tend to link to other potentially relevant sites of a similarstandard, so a small number of the top ranking sites can potentially lead to a much expanded

pool of useful information.

2) Exact phrase searchThere are two ways of phrase searching. First, type ‘medical devices’ in the box Find web

pages that have: this exact wording or phrase.

OR, second, type the phrase in quotation marks (“medical devices”) in the box Find web pagesthat have: all these words. Result of either of the exact phrase searches (10.1 million pages):

entered search term

number of search results

title and linkto website

description of website

adress of website

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3) Two or more exact phrasesImagine we want to search for a topic: a market study about medical devices. As there are two

exact phrases (‘medical devices’ and ‘market study’), the search terms have to be entered inseveral different ways, like this:

The retrieved pages will each include all of the terms entered. In this case, 14,400 resultsremain.

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4) Alternative termsSuppose that the search topic was ‘a market study on medical devices in Europe’. It may beuseful to widen the search to also retrieve pages that include the word "EU". Enter thealternative terms in the box.

This search will find pages containing both of the terms “market study” and "medical devices"and also either the word "Europe" or "EU". (Pages that include all five terms will also be

retrieved). In this case, 774,000 results remain.

Modifying a searchLooking at the numbers of results obtained so far we can end up with very large numbers of

sites. Given its vastness, retrieving too many results of varying relevance and quality can bemore of a problem when searching the Internet than too few results. This section presentssome of the most useful ways for narrowing down or focusing a search using Google AdvancedSearch. The specific techniques are:

• Adding another term• Excluding a term• Search by file format

• Specifying a domain

• Search by date

5) Add another termFocus on a specific aspect of the topic by including a relevant term. Let’s add ‘importer’ as aterm.

Only those pages from the original search that also contain the word "importer" are presented.Result: 938 results.

6) Exclude a termThe initial search on just the words medical devices gives all the results that contain bothwords. One way to focus more specifically on medical devices is to modify the search by typing

"gloves" in the box But don't show pages that have: any of these unwanted words.

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Use this feature with care. If the term you are trying to exclude could reasonably also appear

in pages that are of relevance to your topic, you may overlook useful information.

7) Search by file format (Powerpoint, PDF)

Google also allows you to search for a specific file format, such as .PPT (for PowerPointpresentations) or .PDF (for Adobe Acrobat files). This can be very powerful, as most officialdocuments and/or reports are published in PDF format on the Internet. And presentationsabout trends and market developments are held at most seminars or international trade fairsand, of course, these materials are posted on the Internet… in .PPT format!

Use the scroll down menu under file type to select the file format you want to search for. Inour example we search for PowerPoint presentations about ‘European market trends medical

devices’.

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8) Specify a domainIn its simplest form, the Internet address (URL) of a site classifies it as belonging to aparticular type of organisation, and (generally) by country of origin. This information specifies

the domain of the site. For example, the domain .gov.uk is a website of the UK government.The domain .org belongs to non profit organisations, such as www.un.org or www.fao.org.Restricting the search to a particular domain provides a means of focusing on authoritativesources, e.g. .gov.uk for official reports and policy information from the UK government, or

.edu.uk for reports, working papers and articles published by UK universities and researchcentres. The following example demonstrates this.

To limit the search on: medical devices in the UK to just UK government sites, type the domain

information (.gov.uk) into the box Search within a site or domain.

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Results: without limiting to government sites, approximately 10.1 million sites were obtained.By limiting to “.gov.uk”, about 20 thousand sites remained.

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9) Search by date of publicationThe advanced menu also allows you to search by date. Google then only returns documentsthat are not older than 24 hours, 1 week or 1, 2, 3, 6 or 12 months. This way, you will receiveonly recently updated Web pages. To arrive at this option in the Google Advanced menu, click

on ‘+Date, usage rights, numeric range, and more’. Then use the scroll down menu

More optionsGoogle offers you some more search techniques. There is, for example, an option in the searchresults to search for ‘similar pages’. When you select this, a list with related Internet addressesappears. Searching for beer, for example, shows the Wikipedia webpage. Similar pages, once

you click this option, are The Brewers Association or the Virtual Beer Brewery.

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CacheAnother useful instrument is the ‘cache’ option. Google's cache is the snapshot that it took of aWeb page as it crawled the Web. You may use it when a specific page of your interest does notexist anymore!

2.2 Search engines per EU-country / per subject

Sometimes it may be worthwhileto work with national search

engines instead of worldwideones. This way you canspecifically look for informationwhich concerns one EU-country

in particular. For this you canconsult Whitelines. It is anumbrella website of and withsearch engines, available at

http://www.whitelines.nl. You canask for an overview of nationalsearch engines and directories by

selecting this in the country listsin the middle. This way you canspecifically search within acountry for the desired data. For

the Netherlands you will find 34different search engines.

There is another website that provides you with an overview of search engines per country.This is Searchenginecolossus (http://www.searchenginecolossus.com ).

2.3 Help functionAs you will have noticed, many search engines can be found on the Internet: large and smallones, international and country specific ones. Each has its own specific search methods andways of arranging documents and pages. Also the way to use them

may differ per search engine. One will accept Boolean words, whileanother only works with ‘+’ and ‘-’. A third engine does not need thesemarks at all. Therefore, always consult the help function of a specificsearch engine to see how they function. You will find this under such

terms as: “about”, “how to”, “search help” and “advanced search". Thiswill help you to use the search engines correctly and get the bestresults. Therefore, also learn to work with a small number of favoredengines and use these while searching for information on the Internet.

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3 PRACTICAL TIPS

In this section you will find some practical tips and clues, which will simplify your surfing on

the Internet.

3.1 Surfing suggestions

Quick search of a documentWithin Internet Explorer, go to the ‘Edit’ menu and choose the ‘find (on this page)’ option. Withthe search option you can search for a specific word or expression within a Web page. This way

you can quickly search through a large file, which saves you a lot of scrolling, staring at thescreen and, most importantly, time. You can find this in figure 3.1

Figure 3.1 Searching within a document

To cut and paste Internet pages into a word processing programmeBy means of ‘cut’ and ‘paste’ you can easily transfer a text from an Internet page to a word

processing programme (for example, Microsoft Word). Select the desired text with your mouseand copy it with the right mouse button. Then paste the text in Word, also with the rightmouse button. This way the entire text can be edited. This saves you a lot of typing. The same

can be done with figures and/or maps. Our advice is to use the option ‘paste special’ (underthe menu ‘edit’) and choose non-formatted text.

PDF

You can do the same with texts of a PDF file (Acrobat Reader). Refer to figure 3.2 for anexample. Make sure that you first click the ‘select Text tool’ in the PDF menu before copying atext. Then select a text and copy it with the right mouse button. Then again paste it in yourword processing program. The same goes for pictures, graphics or figures in PDF files. As canbe seen in figure 3.3, first select the ‘snapshot tool’, next to the ‘Text select’ tool. Copy it withthe right mouse button and copy it to your word processing document.

Remark: it is recommended that you use texts or figures for your own purposes only and to

quote the source! If you are in doubt as to whether copying text or figures is allowed at all or

when the disclaimer is not sufficiently clear, you should contact the author.

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Figure 3.2 Cut & paste text from PDF files

Figure 3.3 Cut & paste graphics from PDF files

Select textwith mouse

Selectgraphic

withmouse

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To open a new windowInternet Explorer enables you to make double screens while surfing. As is indicated in figure3.4 you go to the ‘File’ menu and choose ‘new window’. The selected page opens in exactly thesame window, and you can just see the outer edges of the previous one.

Figure 3.4 Open new window

When you are examining the results of a search engine, you can click on the right mousebutton and select ‘open in a new window’. The selected website will open in a separate windowand the results of the query will remain.

Go back in www timeThe Waybackmachine at http://www.archive.org allows you to go back in time. Find previouseditions of websites and dig for information that was once on a website, but which has beencurrently removed!

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3.2 Management of favoritesInternet Explorer contains a system of marking frequently visited websites, which are knownas Favorites. The settings for your Favorites are located on the main menu bar of InternetExplorer.

1 Select the “Favorites” sub-menu with your mouse.

2 Now select “Organize Favorites” from this menu. The Organize Favorites dialogue box has

now appeared.

3 From this box you can add and remove folders, sort your favorites, and do anything elseneeded to manage favorites. The Move button allows you to move your favorites to another

directory. The Rename button will let you change the name of the Favorite you have selected.The Delete button will delete the favorite you have selected.

Creating a new favorites folder

1 To create a new folder foryour favorites, go to theOrganize Favorites dialoguebox again by clickingFavorites and then selecting

“Organize Favorites”.

2 In this box, a button islocated in the upper-left handside that will allow you tocreate a new folder (Thisbutton has been circled in redin the figure). Click this

button and a new folder willappear.

3 The default name of thisfolder is “New Folder”.Change the name by typing anew name when the “New

Folder” text is highlighted. You can always change a file or folder name by clicking on the fileor folder once. Then click the right mouse button and select Rename.

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Adding to favorites1 When you find a website that you would like to add to your Favorites, go up to the

“Favorites” menu item and click on “Add to Favorites”. This will bring up a dialogue box inwhich you can change the name of the favorite.

2 Click “OK” and the favorite is added to your current favorites list.

Deleting favorites1 From the Organize Favorites dialogue box, select the favorite that you wish to delete byclicking on it once. Four buttons should then light up just below the listing of your favorites.

2 Click the Delete button and you will be asked to confirm whether or not you really want todelete. Click yes if you want to delete the Favorite you have selected.

Your reliable partner in Exporting CBI

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Moving your favorites to another computerIn Internet Explorer version 6 you can use the wizard “Import and Export” which you can findin the “file- menu”. With this wizard you can import/export your favorites and/or cookies stepby step. For older versions of Internet Explorer you have to take the following steps:1 Using your file management programme (Windows Explorer, File Manager... etc.), open the

directory where your Internet Explorer Favorites directory is located.

2 Copy these sub-directories files to a diskette and take them to the computer on which you

wish to use your favorites.

3 On that computer open up Internet Explorer and the Organize Favorites dialogue box.

4 From the Organize Favorites dialogue box, click on the arrow next to the "Folder" box. Scrollupward to select the drive your favorites are currently in (if it is on your diskette, make sureyou select the floppy drive).

5 Click on this directory to open the file listing in the favorite’s box. Now your favorites can beselected from this computer!

Online bookmarksIt is also possible to save your favorites (or bookmarks) online, so they are accessible even if you are using other computers. Google Bookmarks is, for example, an online service thatallows you to save your favorite sites and attach labels and annotations. Unlike the bookmark

feature from your own browser, bookmarks are stored online. There are a number of sites thatoffer such services. However, in Google Bookmarks your bookmarks are private, nobody elsecan see them. Also your bookmarks are fully searchable. You are no longer restricted to the

title, description or domain of the page, you can search the entire page.

The main features of bookmarks include:

Adding a bookmark First, make sure you have installed the Google Toolbar, at http://toolbar.google.com/. Onceyou have installed Google Toolbar, you can use it to add or remove bookmarks. Book-marking

is done by clicking on the blue star. Click again on the star to edit this bookmark or to add oneor more labels.

Organise bookmarksYou can organise and categorise your bookmarks using labels, which can be added when youcreate the bookmark or at any time afterward. Click on the star next to the "Bookmarks"

button on your Toolbar, select ‘new label’ in case of a new category or choose an existing one.Then click ‘OK’. Alternatively, go to ’Manage your bookmarks’ and use ‘edit’ to add labels ornotes. All labels that you create, will appear as search categories when browsing your

bookmarks.

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Importing bookmarksIf you are using Internet Explorer, you are able to import your current favorites, by clicking on

‘import IE favorites’ .

Tip: centralised bookmarks in your BSO!By creating one Gmail account, for example [email protected], you can create a centralised

system of bookmarks in your BSO. The advantage is that every employee has access to allcurrent and newly added bookmarks! Ideally, one person should be responsible for creatingand maintaining the bookmarks and categories.

More information can be found at http://www.google.com/bookmarks/.

Labels

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3.3 TranslatingOn the internet you can both translate texts or entire websites from and to a large number of languages. There are a number of such tools available, but we would recommend you useGoogle Translate. Alternatively you may use Yahoo Babelfish (http://babelfish.yahoo.com/).

Google Translate

Although still a beta version (August 2008), Google Translate looks very promising. Go tohttp://translate.google.com/translate and see what you can do here: translating a piece of text

or a full webpage. There are many languages to choose from!

Imagine you want to translate the French paper Le Monde. Go to the translation web page andfill out the web address to translate and select source and destination languages (French to

English). Then click on translate! You could also do a regular Google search and then click on ‘translate this page’ if you want to translate a web page out of the result list.

Steps: Go to http://translate.google.com/translate

Fill out Web address to translate

Select source - and destination languages (French to English)

Select ‘translate’

3.4 Online communitiesOnline communities are quite popular, not only in personal life (Facebook, Hyves) but also for

business purposes. For example, LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com) is such a professionalnetworking site that allows members to create business contacts and find potential clients.Comparable to LinkedIn are sites such as http://www.doostang.com andhttp://www.ecademy.com.

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LinkedinYou have the ability to create your own professional profile that can be viewed by others inyour network, and also view the profiles of their contacts. In addition, you could also useLinkedin as a tool to do market research! LinkedIn Groups is an extra feature with group-basedorganisations consisting of members within the same profession or industry. There is, for

example, already a group such as ‘Organic Network’ or ‘The BPO and Offshoring Best Practices

Forum’. Joining such groups may bring you into contact with experts and other professionalswhom you may approach for your research!

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4 USEFUL WEBSITES EU MARKET

Below you will find some very useful websites and Internet resources for all countries of the

European Union. You will find a content description and navigation tips for each website in orderto guide you as comfortably as possible to the information you are looking for. Please refer to theCBI EU Sector Surveys at http://www.cbi.eu/marketinfo for more sector specific sources.

4.1 EU market information (general)

CBI – http://www.cbi.eu/marketinfo

The very first start for your own market research! CBI’s Market Information Database (MID)can offer you so much relevant information on EU markets. How does it work? Please read thefollowing three steps to find the information: 1 Searching, 2 Filtering, 3 Reading. In addition,you will find some practical tips on how to use the MID and how to solve the most common

problems.

Step 1) Searching in CBI’s Market Information Database

When do you use the category search?If you are looking for all the information available in the database for your specific marketsector (e.g. “food”), in combination with the EU country of your interest the category search isthe best option. Your search result will provide you with a list of all documents relevant for (allor some) products within the market sector you have chosen. Screen the summaries of the

documents to find out which information is relevant for your product!

When do you use the keyword search?When you are looking for more targeted information, for instance, a specific topic or a specific

substance (e.g. “ISO 9000”, “cadmium”), the keyword search is the best option. You will getdocuments in which your exact keyword appears.

Please be aware that the information in CBI’s MID is divided according to market sectors, notspecific products. This means that the documents relevant to your specific products may notmention your product in the title/document. For instance, the document covering the EUGeneral Food Law is applicable to all food products, but you will not find your own specific food

product (mango jam, organic coffee…) mentioned in it. Check the information provided for themarket sector your product belongs to!

Select market sector& EU country andclick on “go”

Enter yourkeyword andclick on “go”

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Step 2) FilteringYou can specify your search result by making use of filters. Click on the type of informationyou are interested in. These filters allow you to quickly jump to the information section you areinterested in at a particular stage of your market research. Do not forget to return to the filterwhen you proceed to the next stage in your search!

NEW CBI PRODUCTS!!Please note that CBI has recently introduced two new information products to its range of services: e-business reports and sector alerts.

Market access requirements

Gives you a list of all relevantdocuments on legislative and non-legislative requirements.

LegislationProvides you with all EU product

legislation relevant for your search.

Non-legislationTakes you to all relevantdocuments on non-legislativerequirements that EU buyers mayhave, such as certification schemes

(eco-labels), management systems,codes of conduct etc.

Tariffs and quotaSelects the chapter on tariffs andquota from the CBI Sector Surveyfor your chosen market sector.

Intellectual propertyTakes you to a series of articles onintellectual property rights.

Market surveys

Lists all relevant marketsurvey(s). (For example:Sector survey “Personalprotective equipment”,product survey “Protectivefootwear”) and an e-business

survey for that sector.

Sector surveysProvides you with informationon a market sector relevantfor your search. (Forexample: Fresh fruits and

vegetables)

Product surveysTakes you to relevant CBImarket survey(s) covering aparticular product. (Forexample: papaya)

E-business reportsProvides an overview of interesting e-businessapplications for exportersfrom developing countries

who want to export to the EU.

Sector alertsGives expert views of

expected major developmentsin the supply chain of themarket sector relevant toyour search.

Marketing guidelines

Lists both export guidelinesand export manuals.

Export guidelinesGives you sector-specificguidelines on how to approach

the EU market. (For example:Export marketing guidelinesfor fresh fruit and vegetables)

Export manualsLists all available CBI Exportmanuals, for example

‘Website promotion - how topromote your website in the

EU’ or ‘Export Planner - acomprehensive guide forprospective exporters indeveloping countries’.

NEW!!!

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E-business reportsE-business is a hot item for many businesses all over the world. Per sector, these CBI reportsdiscuss the most interesting e-business applications for SME companies from developingcountries wishing to export to the EU. CBI has done so by means of online questionnairesamong representatives of European buyers and DC exporters. In addition, several industry

experts in the EU and in DCs have been questioned by phone. The following business

processes within E-business are discussed for each sector:• Marketing and sales (special attention to e-markets!)

• Payment

• Product Service Delivery (PSD)

• Customer Service

• Production

Sector alertsA Sector Alert aims to optimise assistance given by Business Support Organisations (BSOs) toexporters in developing countries. It is a short document of 3-4 pages that contains insight

and tailored information on expected strategic developments in each sector. It enables BSOs toidentify new opportunities per sector and to improve market orientation. CBI and externalparties compile the sector alerts by interviewing a number of sector specialists. In addition, a

peer group consisting of some highly reputed industry specialists has added valuableinformation.

Both new products are available at http://www.cbi.eu/marketinfo.

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Step 3) ReadingThe search result in CBI’s database provides you with a list of all relevant documents. To selecta document, click on the title. This brings you to the following page:

The downloadabledocument is the central

feature on the page

Related documents givesyou easy access to moreinformation on theselected topic in CBI’s MID

The summary above thedownloadable document

gives a brief descriptionof the document

External links provideuseful Internet linksselected by CBI marketresearchers

Here you can findindividual chapters of market surveys, or EUMember States legislation

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Attaché Reports - http://www.fas.usda.gov/scriptsw/attacherep/default.asp

• Database with market reports, product briefs and retail food sector reports. Composed byAmerican Agricultural Attaches based in the EU and other countries.

• Topics include e.g.: fresh fruits, citrus, cocoa, coffee, organic products and also ExporterGuides on EU countries.

• Choose your subject from the menu on the left-hand side, and then select your country of

interest on the right.• !!Don’t forget to switch back the custom date of the search engine, for example to 2005!!

Step 1: Choose ‘fishery products’’ and ‘Netherlands’

Step 2: Switch back date to 2004

Step 3: Click on ‘Search’ button

Step 4: Results are displayed

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Step 5: Download report:

• Choose from ‘View the Acrobat version’ or ‘download the MS Word version’

• Then: open it!

Australian Trade Commission - http://www.austrade.gov.au Wide range of industry and country profiles. Select ‘export markets’ and then choose industry

or country of choice.

EU helpdesk for developing countries - http://exporthelp.europa.eu/ Service of the European Commission to facilitate market access for DCs to the EU. Topics:

• Requirements, taxes, import tariffs

• Custom documents

• Trade Statistics

Example: imports of cut flowers by EU27 from Kenya over 2005-2007:

Step 1: select a product

• hit ‘trade statistics’ and then ‘search’ • enter the product, e.g. ‘flower’

Step 2: choose product from list with codes

Select code 2x

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Step 3: select reporting and partner country (here: EU27 and Kenya), years (2005, 2006 and2007) and the indicators (imports value and quantity).

Step 4: Result!• Option: download results to your own computer by selecting ‘XLS file’ for example.

Export navigator – http://www.exportnavigator.com Database with more than 10,000 free market reports. Most of them have been published byreliable sources like trade promotion organisations or governments. Also no registration or

password is required and the reports are not older than two years.

FAOSTAT – Food & Agriculture organisation - http://faostat.fao.org Very extensive database with focus on agriculture and horticulture:• Production data (historical series for tens of years)• Trade / imports and exports (value and volume, also historical series)

• Very wide global coverage

Example: production of tea and mate by Kenya, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

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Step 1: select ‘production’ and then ‘core production data’

Step 2: You are in the main menu now. Make selections, as done below.

Step 3: Show data

• Hit ‘show data’ and the results appear in your screen.• You can also alternate the parameters.

Note: this database of the FAO is currently being revised. No recent examples can therefore beshown (August 2008).

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada - http://www.infoexport.gc.ca

• Market reports and useful websites for many industries and European countries. Moststudies are freely available.

• Take the following steps:

• Select English, then• ‘Prepare for International Markets’

• ‘Doing business abroad’ • ‘Assess Your Market Potential’ • At the bottom of the page, select the region and country of your interest (such

as the EU and Germany).

• Then, at the right side of the page, under ‘related Information’, go to ‘marketReports and Resources’ for sector studies.

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International Trade Centre – http://www.intracen.org

• Technical cooperation agency of UNCTAD and WTO

• Several product profiles (hit ‘products and services’ and then ‘market developmentservices’)

• ‘Market News Service’ for regular overviews of prices of several sectors. As of the end of

January 2008, users from developing countries can access these MNS reports for free!

Packaging

Practical information, expert support and advice on the field of packaging can be found athttp://www.intracen.org/ep/packaging/packit.htm .

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P-Maps – http://www.p-maps.org The ITC’s P-Maps cover about 5,000 products classified within 72 product clusters, rangingfrom automotive components to fruit juices and wood products. Each portal offers extensiveinternational trade statistics for over 180 countries and territories. They enable exporters andBSOs from developing countries to analyse trade flows from and to any country in the world.As of the end of January 2008, users from developing countries can access the P-Maps for

free!

Trademap – http://www.trademap.org Extensive database with global trade statistics. Import & export values, volumes and growth

rates. Register for free and compile your own statistics. Some highlights follow below, basedon trade flows of frozen shrimp.

1) EU imports of frozen shrimpLog in and then find the HS code for frozen shrimp. To do so, go to advanced search and usethe keyword search.

Select “market development services” for industry information about

many sectors

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Select code 030613 and return to selection menu.

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Then tick ‘region’ and type European Union. Select ‘European Union (27)’. To have the EUimports from all countries, no partner country has to be selected. Hit ‘trade indicators’ for theresult.

As a result, the list of importers for the selected product in 2006 appears.

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2) List of supplying markets By clicking on a country in the list with importing countries, the list of supplying markets forthat country will appear. In this example, clicking on importer nr 1, Spain, gives the list of allexporters to Spain for frozen shrimp. This is a way of checking your competition!

3) EU imports from your country By returning to the menu, you can compile trade statistics for your own country, for example,

the EU imports from your country. Just repeat step 1 and choose your country in the box ‘partner’.

Trade associations in EUIn general, industry associations or trade promotion organisations dispose of good informationand information on prospects in the EU as well (via their member lists!). The best start tofinding those country or industry specific directories is by going to http://www.fita.org.

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To find trade associations in each EU country,take the following steps:1 ‘Really useful links’

2 ‘Business Directories and Trade Information’ 3 ‘Country Specific Business Directories and trade information‘4 ‘Europe directories’ 5 ‘European Union countries’

Additionally, there are some country specific sources in order to find good associations. Someexamples in the English language are:

Germany - http://www.verbandsforum.de Look for German industry associations. Use German keywords by translating it withhttp://babelfish.yahoo.com/.

Italy - http://www.italtrade.com/countries/links/links3.htm Industry associations and organisations in Italy.

UK - http://www.taforum.org/ Select the ‘Trade Association Directory’ to find a trade association, guild or federation byindustry name or organisation name.

4.2 EU country information

Governments on the WWW - http://www.gksoft.com/govt

Comprehensive database of governmental institutions on the World Wide Web with ministries,embassies, central banks and multi-governmental institutions. Use these resources to findinformation yourself or send your specific request by e-mail to these institutions.

Chambers of Commerce – http://www.worldchambers.com

• Worldwide directory of chambers of commerce.

• Select ‘chamber directory’

World Factbook – https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ Recent country information reports: politics, economy, geography and country map.

In 5 clicks

to tradeassociations inEU countries

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4.3 Trade fairs

AUMA – Association of German trade fair industry – http://www.auma.de

• Extensive database with information on various exhibitions in Europe

• Detailed background information and statistics

• Select ‘English’ and then ‘worldwide’.

• Within the database, selecto The years (e.g. 2008 and 2009)

o Keywords (e.g. fish)o Continents/countries (e.g. Europe)

Eventseye – http://www.eventseye.com

Database with exhibitions and trade shows worldwide.

4.4 Finding buyers in the EU

First determine EU target group!Before starting to search for buyers on the web we highly recommend that you determine yourmarket entry strategy and target group in the EU first. In other words, try to find out what youare looking for: importers, agents or processors? Or should you supply directly to producers inthe EU? Or, in the case of subcontracting, should you look for EU producers who want torelocate their production? To make this choice, you could certainly analyse chapter 2 in eachEU Sector Survey (‘Trade channels for market entry’). Only then, start your search!

Tools

You can use several tools to find buyers in the EU. The three most common ones are:• Tool 1: Company database (examples in this section)

• Tool 2: Exhibitor database of trade fair websites (example in this section)

• Tool 3: Member lists of trade associations (example in this section)

In addition, you may check appendices of market surveys. Some of them contain lists of

potential buyers. Further, e-markets may be useful (refer to section 4.6). Finally, you may, of course, use Google. In this case, you are advised to use very specific and targeted keywords,such as ‘wholesaler dried mango the Netherlands’.

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Tool 1: Company databases

Europages - http://www.europages.com Search for business contacts such as importers and wholesalers in Europe. Imagine you arelooking for buyers of games and toys in the province of North Rhine and Westphalia in

Germany. The following steps should be taken:

Step 1 Search for toys

Type a keyword, e.g. ‘toys’. The corresponding sector will appear (‘toys and games’) , select it.Make sure to search in ‘products and services’.

Alternatively, use the directory with business sectors to search your sector. Or hit ‘themes’ tosearch in more detail.

Step 2 Search by EU countryAll companies matching your search will appear. In this case: 1,391 results. Limit to Germanyon the right side. 285 German companies remain.

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Step 3 Select the provinces (s) of the EU-country It is even possible to select by province of the EU-country of your choice, also on the rightside. Here: Bonn, Düsseldorf and North Rhine and Westphalia. 44 companies are left!

Kellysearch – http://www.kellysearch.com

• Look for distributors, manufacturers and other companies in the EU (UK, Germany and theNetherlands in particular). Also USA and Asian countries are available.

Kompass - http://www.kompass.com

• Worldwide business directory, compose your own long-list with prospects.

• Use the simple search method, which is for free.

The advanced search method is only available for registered users. This advanced searchmethod gives you the following extra options: selecting the region, type of activity,kompasscode, workforce and turnover.

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ExampleFind business contacts in the protective footwear industry in the United Kingdom.

Step 1 Fill in the keyword “footwear” and select the United Kingdom

Step 2 Select the products of your interest (for example: “Footwear, industrial, protective andspecial purpose”)

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Step 3 Results (unregistered users cannot see all the results)

Step 4 Click on a company name for more information

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Thomas Global Register Europe – http://www.trem.biz Directory of 700,000 manufacturers and distributors from 28 countries, classified by 11,000products and services categories. Focus is on industrial suppliers and services.

Wer Liefert Was – http://www.wlwonline.de

• Supplier Search Engine for the business-to-business sector.

• First choose the country. Germany is default, otherwise choose between Austria,Switzerland, Czech Republic, Slovakia or Croatia.

• Use keyword search. Possibility to refine by company activity (wholesaler, manufacturer,distributor). To do so, hit ‘other filters’.

ABC Direct – http://www.abcdirect.nl/

Comprehensive B2B database, focusing on The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Luxembourg andGermany.

Tool 2: Exhibitor database of trade fair websitesOnline exhibitor databases of trade fairs are another powerful tool to identify potential buyers.Below is an example of the exhibitor list of the European Seafood Exposition athttp://www.euroseafood.com. The database contains potential buyers in the seafood industry,

searchable by product and country. It is just an example of how useful these exhibitordatabases are! As discussed in section 4.3, the website http://www.auma.de can be used tofind websites of trade fairs for many sectors.

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Tool 3: Member lists trade associationsThe most websites of trade associations will, generally speaking, have member lists available.These reveal detailed information on e.g. name, address, activity and products they offer. Forexample, the website of the British Footwear Association (http://www.britfoot.com) contains a

member list of manufacturers and other companies active in this sector. It is searchable by

category. It contains full details of each company: description, address details, products. Tofind trade associations yourselves, please take a look at the end of section 4.1 of this Manual).

From longlist to shortlistYou have seen that by using these tools it is quite a good way of composing a long list of potential buyers. Once you have this long list, it is time to reduce it to a short list with really

promising companies. To reduce the number of companies in the long list, you could visit theweb pages of each company and use some of the following criteria to eliminate a number of candidates:

• Strategy of company (is there a good match with yours?)

• Product range

• Geographical coverage

• Ambition

• Sourcing policy

• Quality demands (certification?)

• Professionalism (does the website look professional?)

• ………..

A last piece of advice: please be aware that composing a short list with prospects is a timeconsuming process! Take your time and make yourselves acquainted with the websites and

databases concerned!

4.5 Market access requirements

CBI – http://www.cbi.eu/marketinfo CBI’s Market Information Database on Market Access Requirements is divided into fourcategories:

1) Legislative Market Access Requirements, which form an important part of the MarketAccess Requirements exporters face when exporting their products to the EU. CBI’s MarketInformation Database presents legislation relevant for producers of any of the products that

fall within the CBI product scope.

2) Non-legislative Market Access Requirements, which are all requirements which EUimporters may have for their suppliers, or which may offer exporters a competitive advantagewhen marketing their products in the EU.

3) Tariffs and quotaFor some sectors, imports tariffs and quota apply.

4) Intellectual property Market Access Requirements, which are all exclusive rights toprotect different forms of subject matter such as copyright, patent, trademark, industrial

design right and trade secret.

CBI’s information on Market Access Requirements is specially developed for exporters andbusiness support organisations in developing countries. It includes all relevant information free

of charge on requirements exporters have to meet if they want to export successfully to EUmarkets. So exporters know in advance exactly what customers, trading partners andgovernments expect of them. This saves them hours of searching on the Internet or in

libraries. The Market Access Requirements, which are demanded by either EU governments or

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private sector parties, are based on consumer health, product safety, environmental, socialand quality concerns.

EU helpdesk for developing countries - http://exporthelp.europa.eu/ • Import tariffs and duties.

• Go to ‘import tariffs and then select HS code or product name (refer to previous example

for methods on selecting a product)

World Customs Organization - http://www.wcoomd.org/ie/En/en.html

• Links to customs websites worldwide

• Select ‘about us’ and then ‘National Customs Websites’.

4.6 E-markets

Alibaba – http://www.alibaba.com Search for trade leads for your own product. Consider using the Trustpass, to have access to

more serious buyers and sellers.

CBI E-business studies – http://www.cbi.eu/marketinfo E-business is a hot item for many businesses all over the world. Therefore, the CBI hasrecently published e-business studies per sector. In a very practical way, they discuss the mostinteresting e-business applications for SMEcompanies from developing countries that want to

export to the EU. CBI has done so by means of online questionnaires among representatives of European buyers and DC exporters. In addition,

several industry experts in the EU and in DCs werequestioned by phone. For each sector, the followingbusiness processes within E-business are discussed:

• Marketing and sales (special attention to e-

markets!)

• Payment

• Product Service Delivery (PSD)

• Customer Service• Production

E-market services –

http://www.emarketservices.com

• Overview of electronic marketplaces, ranked by industry.

• Read more about the pros and cons of e-commerce

• Select ‘E-market directory’ and then the sector of your choice

• Read more about each marketplace by selecting it. You will find more information aboutproducts covered, examples of companies active on the marketplace and also thegeographical scope.

4.7 News and trends

Trade fair websitesIn general, websites of trade fairs contain very useful information. Most of them, for example,will publish e.g. press releases with market updates or they will publish the latest trends. Athttp://www.biofach.de you can find, for example, press releases on organic markets andproducts. Further, at http://ambiente.messefrankfurt.com very detailed pictures of colour and

material trends of handicrafts and textiles can be downloaded.

http://www.cbi.eu/

http://www.cbi.eu/




http://www.wcoomd.org/ie/En/en.html

http://www.alibaba.com/




http://www.emarketservices.com/

http://www.biofach.de/


http://ambiente.messefrankfurt.com/


http://www.emarketservices.com/



http://www.wcoomd.org/ie/En/en.html



http://www.cbi.eu/





Page 52 of 52

Industry portalsIndustry specific can be a good way of finding the latest news per sector. Go to the nextsection to find some examples of them!

Annual reportsYou are also recommended to look for the annual reports of leading companies in your sector.

These reports will contain a section on the market, trends and forecasts in most cases. Annualreports can be found on the individual company websites (look e.g. for ‘investor relations’) or

by using Google (‘annual report garments’).

4.8 Sector specific portals (prices, latest news)Prices are hard to find on the Internet. Obviously, this is because products differ, as well as

their volumes, specifications, materials, sizes and… Nevertheless, the internet may be used toget an idea of the process in EU markets with regard to several sectors. Below you can followsome useful sources.

By sector

Several sectors

Market News Service - http://www.intracen.org/mns • ITC’s Market News Service (MNS) provides detailed price information and market

intelligence on selected products.• Sectors: cut flowers and plants, medicinal plants and extracts, spices, tropical and off-

season fruits and vegetables, fruit juices, pharmaceutical starting materials, essential oilsand oleoresins, organic products and precious and semi precious stones.

• Free access to developing country exporters and BSOs.

Fresh produceAgribusiness online - http://www.agribusinessonline.com/prices/ Weekly prices, focus on Europe and more markets.

Agriholland - http://www.agriholland.nl/marktprijzen/mp_tuinbouw-europa.html Links to fresh markets with price information in the following EU countries: Germany, France,

UK, Italy, Spain, Denmark and Belgium.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs -http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/publications/amr/07weekly/default.asp

National average wholesale prices of home grown fruit and vegetables by class; prices in fourmajor markets in England.

Freshplaza - http://www.freshplaza.com/pricewatch.htm Average Free on Truck prices in Euros, Dutch fresh produce market.

Fruitnet - http://www.fruitnet.com

All about fruit and other fresh produce: data & statistics, links to companies (‘fruit logisticavirtual marketplace’), market prices and much more.

Leather

Hidenet - http://www.hidenet.com Fee based.

Leathernet - http://www.leathernet.com

All about leather: markets, news, production data, prices.

Seafood

Fis (Fish Information & Services) - http://www.fis.com

http://www.cbi.eu/

http://www.cbi.eu/


http://www.intracen.org/mns


http://www.agribusinessonline.com/prices/


http://www.agriholland.nl/marktprijzen/mp_tuinbouw-europa.html


http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/publications/amr/07weekly/default.asp


http://www.freshplaza.com/pricewatch.htm


http://www.fruitnet.com/


http://www.hidenet.com/


http://www.fis.com/

http://www.fis.com/

http://www.fis.com/

http://www.leathernet.com/









http://www.cbi.eu/




All about fish: market reports, prices & company information.

Globefish - http://www.globefish.org Very detailed reports on price developments in the EU fishery sector. Hit ‘fish price indicators’.

United Fish Auctions - http://www.unitedfishauctions.com

Daily prices for Dutch and Danish fish auctions. Hit English version and ‘price information’.

Timber Global wood - http://www.globalwood.org/ Look under ‘timber prices’

Use http://www.fita.org to find more of them (section 1.2.2).

Individual company websitesWebsites of individual companies can be visited to look at prices. Some examples are

• Electronic components: https://www.em.avnet.com, http://www.ibsstore.com. • Furniture, household products: http://www.ikea.com, http://www.mfi.co.uk. • Industrial: http://www.edelstahl.de (Click ‘prices’), http://www.fginox.fr.

Further, there are websites that enable you to compare the prices of consumer products.Examples include http://www.kelkoo.com and http://www.pricerunner.com. Some are betterthan others, not all check the same amount of stores. For more price comparison sites, go to

DMOZ at http://dmoz.org/Home/Consumer_Information/Price_Comparisons .

The CBI EU Sector Surveys on the specific EU sectors contain more examples of sources of

price information. They are available at http://www.cbi.eu/marketinfo.

4.9 Exchange rates

Below you will find some very useful websites that can be used in daily practice.

Oanda - http://www.oanda.com

• Exchange rates for all global currencies• Choose ‘FX history’ for historical currency exchange rates

Universal Currency Converter™ - http://www.xe.com/ucc

Converting all international currencies.

http://www.globefish.org/


http://www.unitedfishauctions.com/


http://www.globalwood.org/




http://www.em.avnet.com/


http://www.ibsstore.com/


http://www.ikea.com/


http://www.mfi.co.uk/


http://www.edelstahl.de/


http://www.fginox.fr/


http://www.kelkoo.com/


http://www.pricerunner.com/


http://dmoz.org/Home/Consumer_Information/Price_Comparisons




http://www.oanda.com/

http://www.xe.com/ucc



http://www.oanda.com/















Documents

2008 Digging for Gold1