Training / Policy advisory in Ghana
TAC has organised and conducted two workshops in Ghana in March 2004 on “EU
Market access opportunities for Ghana and positions for Economic
Partnership Agreement negotiations”, in the context of a study
financed by the European Commission. Both workshops have been labelled
as highly productive and successful by the attendees.
- The first workshop was designed for the Ghanaian officials
in charge of multilateral trade policy formulation and implementation.
The workshop focused on detailed negotiating issues and the best
ways to achieve the desired results, and included general trade
issues, macroeconomic issues, market access issues and supply-side
issues. This was completed by a training session to enable the designated
officials from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, and
the Ministry of Trade and Industry, to use a simulation tool designed
and estimated by TAC on future export performances at a 6-digit
level of custom classification.
- The second workshop, addressed to a much broader array of
stakeholders in Ghana, was intended to provoke and promote a dialogue
and common understanding between various parties. This workshop
was devoted to the export opportunities and potential for expansion
on the EU Market, in relation with the current negotiations between
ACP countries and the EU on forthcoming EPA.
Specific country / industry research with trade and investment issues
Click to enlarge
|
TAC was very active in feeding the EU-India Joint Initiative to Enhance Trade
and Investment, through a macroeconomic analysis of key macroeconomic factors
behind the unsatisfactory level of trade and investment flows between the EU
and India, through specific industry research focused on the hindrances and
obstacles to trade and FDI, through large surveys to European companies operating
in India, through extensive dialogue with Indian businesses and representative
organisations, and through continuous discussions with all interested parties.
Such a dialogue was enhanced by the establishment, feeding process and management
of a dedicated website, a page of which is reproduced below for illustration.
|
Investor’s Guidebooks and operational advisory services for potential investors
| TAC has participated in many studies aiming at providing European companies
(including SMEs) with recommendations and practical information when looking
at a potential investment decision in a developing country. In 2001, we wrote
a Guidebook for Asia-Invest (a European Commission programme supporting EU-Asia
links at business and company level) on trade and investment opportunities in
Vietnam. The macro / micro analysis and deep knowledge of the Vietnamese characteristics
allowed to provide investors with a simplified “decision tree” for
initial investment decisions by European companies in Vietnam.
|
Click to enlarge
|
Benchmarking tools
Here below are two pages derived from the trial website realized for UNCTAD
in 2002-03 presenting the results of TAC’s work on FDI policy
benchmarking and comparison exercise. UNCTAD was so pleased with
our research that it managed to transform it into an operational
instrument within less than a year after TAC completed its assignment.
UNCTAD has renamed the tool as follows: Investment Compass. It has
selected and developed key indicators considered to have an influence
on the investment environment. The database covered now 55 developing
countries ; South Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam have just been added.
|
