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ITC Provides Trade-Related Information as EBRD Expands into North Africa and Middle East

30 December 2011
ITC News

The International Trade Centre (ITC) will send intelligence reports on Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's Business Information Services as the EBRD expands into the southern and eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region.

The plan is part of a project established between ITC and EBRD five years ago to exchange good practices in trade-information management. In light of EBRD's extended mandate towards North African and Middle Eastern countries, the bank called on ITC experience in these regions to better understand trade-intelligence challenges.

Country intelligence SEMED countries and Trade Information Services (TIS) experience in technical-cooperation projects with Morocco and Tunisia were the main topics of a 2 December meeting in London involving Mr. Ashish Shah, acting Chief Office for Arab States, Stephan Blanc, Chief Trade Information Services, and David Cordobes, Trade Information Capacity Building Officer. A competitive intelligence network in Tunisia and key actors within it that could help EBRD's business-information services better address internal country intelligence needs were presented.

In additional a specific session was undertaken with the director of TurnAround Management and Business Advisory Services (TAM/BAS) programmes and her team. On 12 December, ITC attended a "listening day" organized by ERBD and UTICA in Tunisia. ITC envisages sending a high-level delegation to EBRD to discuss support to technical-cooperation programmes.