A comprehensive new online tool from the World Bank may help business decision-makers analyze and compare countries for opportunities in import-export trade, international supply chain management and global expansion. Called TCdata360, the platform gathers 1,800 trade and economic indicators for more than 200 countries, enabling visualizations and comparisons of the data.
Comparing Countries for Import-Export Trade
Let’s say your company is considering a change in international supply chain management, such as adding or shifting a manufacturing location. Pertinent indicators could include the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) intellectual property (IP) protection rating, World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index, World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) assessment of technical barriers to trade, or the energy efficiency analysis from the World Bank and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
With these and many more data points available on TCdata360, international supply chain managers can make fast, graphic comparisons between countries. Charts show, for example, that WEF data ranks India’s IP protection somewhat higher than China’s, but suggest that it could be easier to start a business in China (based on World Bank data). Potential trade-offs in import-export trade and other global expansion decisions could also become apparent, for example, in the OECD’s Services Trade Restrictiveness Index (where China tops India) or WEF’s general business environment ranking (where India eases out China).
“For the private sector, open data helps companies operate more efficiently, identify areas where industries can improve and pinpoint areas for new investment,” Klaus Tilmes, Director of the Trade and Competitiveness Global Practice at the World Bank, said in a blog post, adding that the high-quality data helps provide an “unbiased, objective and comprehensive view of how the world economy works.”
Tips for using the site have been provided in an interview with platform designer Prasanna Lal Das. “The whole idea of TCdata360 is to make it accessible to non-data specialists through easy-to-use interfaces, while also providing more sophisticated options for veteran data-crunchers,” he said. The Twitter feed #TCdata360 also provides examples of the tool in practice.
Drilling Down Details for Import-Export Trade
TCdata360 enables data to be viewed by country, topic or indicator, providing recent and historical data. An import-export trade business, for example, could search on “trade barriers” as a topic, finding nearly 75 indicators of possible relevance (including tariffs, quotas, taxes, and technical barriers). Among other features, a “datascoper” tool can compare countries based on multiple indicators at the same time. Related information is also provided on the World Bank’s website, including blogs, publications, and other toolkits. For instance, international supply chain managers would find the 2016 Connecting to Compete report, which analyzes infrastructure, procedures, regulations, geographic characteristics and political/economic factors that are used to determine various countries’ global logistics standings.
In addition to using the site, companies can incorporate data directly into their own systems, using an application programming interface (API) that also automatically updates information as it is posted on TCdata360.
Other Information Resources for Import-Export Trade
Many country-specific information resources can be found elsewhere on the web. In the U.S., export.gov provides country commercial guides, elaborating on such factors as the top reasons U.S. companies should consider any particular country, strategies for the market, challenges to market entry and top sectors for U.S. exports and investment per country. An import-export trader in Australia might consult bilateral trade and economic fact sheets from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, among other government resources. Similarly, British exporters might find tailored information from the U.K. Department for International Trade. Some countries also provide information designed to encourage inward investment and business, on sites such as the Canadian government’s “Invest in Canada.”
All these provided informations can prove to be very useful to analyse and understand the current market trend.
