Need for market analysis under WTO regime stressed

The first-ever Strategic Market Analysis Workshop organised by the International Trade Centre is a beginning of a series of activities which could help the exporter, as trade is growing rapidly.

The export market analysis is considered to be one of the most important said Economic and Trade Advisor of the European Union, Roshan Lyman addressing a workshop conducted at Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) in Colombo last week. Lyman said that there is a shift in global trade and developing countries out perform in terms of GDP. Therefore capacity to undertake market analysis is the key point and the EU is supporting the market analysis process.

The event was organised to enhance awareness among government officials, the business sector and civil society about the implications of WTO agreements on the economy of Sri Lanka ,and to assist the country in building capacity to address issues arising from its participation in the WTO.

The key component of the programme was building capacity through training on strategic market analysis with special attention given to market access issues. The workshop offered by ITC's experts using online systems that are now available in Sri Lanka, namely Market Access Map and Trade Map.

Market Access Map is an interactive database on tariffs and market access measures. It contains market access conditions applied at the bilateral level by 170 importing countries to the products exported by more than 200 countries and territories.

The Department of Commerce was the co-sponsor of the event.

(RK)