The global village is waiting for your products. How ready are you?

Human beings are social by nature. This explains the billions of dollars we spend every year on tourism. We travel the world to enjoy new scenery, to meet new people, to try new foods, and for the newness of the experience. When we have goods and services ‘tour’ across international borders, we call it international trade.

Louei Ali, MBA, CITP|FIBP

Louei is the Director of Business Development at Canada Topp Group based in London Ontario (Canada). Canada Topp Group is an export trading company that helps Canadian companies with opportunities and business development in over 40 countries by acting as their export arm to reach a well established community of qualified distributors.

Know your next international trade achievers! Winners of the 2013 FITT Educational Award

It’s that time of the year again! The time when we recognize the talents, accomplishments and experiences of our FITT-trained international business students.

Daniella D'Alimonte

With her background in writing, marketing and business journalism, Daniella focuses on crafting quality stories and relevant content to inform and inspire the international business community.

How vital is government intervention to international trade growth?

Indeed, it is the countries with the greatest international trade infrastructure where trade really thrives. This is not to suggest that governments alone are responsible for the promotion and expansion of international business, but rather, that it doesn’t hurt to have them on your side.

Justin Bedi

Justin Bedi is a master of international trade student at the University of Saskatchewan’s Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. With his primary focus in Canadian trade policy, he has studied a range of topics from international commercial law to the use of statistical modelling in global trade patterns. Being a policy student at heart, Justin has a deep appreciation for trade policy as a discipline and industry in Canada. Upon graduation he hopes to assist firms in better understanding the global trade environment, in either a private or public setting.

Gathering competitive intelligence before you enter foreign markets

One of the key mistakes companies make when selecting a market entry strategy is to focus on their capabilities and goals and forget to gather competitive intelligence in their chosen market. The higher the level of competition in the market, the lower the profits that can be obtained.

Daniella D'Alimonte

With her background in writing, marketing and business journalism, Daniella focuses on crafting quality stories and relevant content to inform and inspire the international business community.

Why just facts aren’t enough to do business with Latin American countries

First of all, facts aren’t enough. You won’t sell a product or a service in Latin America solely based on features, specs, pricing, benefits, etc. You won’t find a distributor or partner who will just look at your product objectively, see the benefits, do the maths, and take it on.

Gabriela Castro-Fontoura

Gabriela Castro-Fontoura is Director at Sunny Sky Solutions (www.sunnyskysolutions.com), supporting overseas companies across Latin America. Gabriela specialises in market research, distributor recruitment, soft-landing and trade missions across the region, from her base in Montevideo, Uruguay.

5 Free trade agreement myths debunked & Canada’s newest FTA with South Korea

The old adage, “a good compromise is one in which neither party is happy,” is a lousy standard by which to judge whether or not…

Ryan Weaver

Ryan is a Marketing Analyst at Mentor Works and holds a B.A. in economics, as well as a M.Sc in management and several published works including two book publications. Ryan is actively engaged with business owners and executives to educate them about government grants and funding available to accelerate their growth and cash flow planning activities.