In doing so export promotion bodies need to bear in mind that firms go through different stages in the internationalisation process. The needs of firms at different stages are likely to be different. Assistance programs have to take this into consideration.

As developing countries, the promotion of international trade, exports in particular, is regarded as one of the main ways in which SADC countries can ensure sustained economic growth.

This is because through international trade these countries earn much needed foreign exchange necessary for them to finance their imports. Preferential trade agreements, pursuance of business friendly fiscal measures as well as provision of export assistance services are the key measures taken by SADC countries in order to improve on their chances of realising the many benefits associated with international trade. An analysis of changes in SADC member countries involvement in international trade shows that the measures taken have yielded some benefits.

Of particular note is the growth in export earnings experienced by all SADC countries over the past two decades. Some of these concerns relate to the fact that the level of growth in export earnings in most of the member countries is far below the world average and the average for developing economies in general. Many countries in the region continue to experience persistent trade deficits, the region in general has not registered much success in export diversification both in terms of range products exported as well as major markets for export products.

Of much concern in this regard is the fact that many SADC countries have not managed to significantly grow their share of exports of manufactured products. Specifically governments need to find ways of diversifying their export products by providing strategic support to export production activities in non-traditional products; take measures aimed at ensuring that firms have easy access to technologies necessary for quality control; invest more in assisting companies identify buyers in not only the current major export markets but also exploring demand in new markets.

Governments have to also work towards investing a lot in improving trade related infrastructures including transport networks and ensuring adequate funding of export assistance programs while at the same time demanding returns on investments from the export promotion bodies.

The analysis provided in this chapter has assisted in providing a better picture of the situation. Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.

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Help us write another book on this subject and reach those readers. Login to your personal dashboard for more detailed statistics on your publications. Edited by Vito Bobek. We are IntechOpen, the world's leading publisher of Open Access books. Built by scientists, for scientists. Our readership spans scientists, professors, researchers, librarians, and students, as well as business professionals. Downloaded: Introduction World Trade Organisation WTO driven agreements, specifically those involving reduction in tariff and non-tariff barriers in world markets, have created a framework for an open trading system worldwide.

Methodology This study involved a review of secondary sources of information and analysis of secondary data. Generation of foreign exchange SADC member countries rely on export earnings for their foreign exchange reserves.

Improving international competitiveness Exports help in promoting international competitiveness through, among other things, improved production efficiencies that are made possible by increased opportunities to exploit larger economies of scale Ahmed et al. Table 1. Employment generation In promoting exports, SADC countries are also interested in ensuring that export growth is accompanied with improved structural transformations including growth in employment levels. Export promotion programs in the SADC region According to Seringhaus export promotion refers to all public policy measures that actually or potentially enhance exporting activity from a national, industry or firm perspective.

Economic cooperation Trade agreements are part of almost all economic cooperation initiatives that countries enter into at both bilateral and multilateral level. Fiscal policy measures Fiscal policy measures including policies on exchange rates and tax can significantly impact on export success. Export assistance programs Export Assistance Programmes are mainly targeted directly at individual firm level.

Table 2. World Merchandise Trade: Imports and Exports a trend analysis. Share of manufactures to total merchandise exports Major export commodities World Exports Botswana - Swaziland - Table 3. International Merchandise Trade: Export Composition. Botswana High income economies Sub-Saharan Africa - - Malawi High income economies Sub-Saharan Africa Table 4. Challenges and recommendations to export promotion in the SADC 7. Production related challenges and recommendations Of particular concern when it comes to production related challenges are issues relating to production capacity and diversification.

Demand related challenges and recommendations On the demand side, the challenges are mainly related to finding ways of diversifying target markets for exports as well as assisting companies with identifying buyers internationally. Trade related infrastructure challenges and recommendations Well functioning infrastructure system including a good road, railway and air networks are essential for trade facilitation.

Effective export assistance programs While the improvements in the macro-economic environment are essential in establishing a conducive environment for international trade participation, improvements in this area will be meaningless if individual firms are not persuaded to take up exporting. More Print chapter. How to cite and reference Link to this chapter Copy to clipboard.

Trade agreements

Cite this chapter Copy to clipboard Mercy Mpinganjira August 22nd Available from:. Over 21, IntechOpen readers like this topic Help us write another book on this subject and reach those readers Suggest a book topic Books open for submissions.

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More statistics for editors and authors Login to your personal dashboard for more detailed statistics on your publications. Access personal reporting. More About Us. Country Size Sq km. Democratic Republic of Congo.

South Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa. Developing countries - Latin America and the Caribbean. Developing countries — East Asia and the Pacific. World Average. World Exports. Exports Imports. Share of manufactures to total merchandise exports. Major export commodities. Diamonds Diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt, wood products, crude oil. Foot wear, articles of apparel and clothing Coffee, Vanilla, Shell fish, Sugar, textile, Chromate. Clothing and textiles, sugar, cut flower, molasses, fish. Aluminium, prawns, cashews, cotton, sugar, citrus,. Canned tuna, frozen fish, cinnamon bark, copra.

Gold, diamonds, platinum, other metals and minerals, machinery and equipment, fruits and nuts. Soft drink concentrates, sugar, wood pulp, cotton yarn,. Gold, coffee, cashew nuts,. Platinum, cotton, tobacco, gold, ferroalloys, textiles and clothing. High income economies Sub-Saharan Africa. China South Africa Netherlands South Africa, UK, Angola. Switzerland, China, South Africa,. South Africa, Netherlands, Switzerland. Top 5 Products exports imports at HS 6 digit level. Product Code Product Name Petroleum oils, etc, excl. Top 5 Export and Import partners.

Exports and Imports of Product Groups. Trade Indicators more ». A country with trade export or import that is concentrated in a very few markets will have an index value close to 1. Similarly, a country with a perfectly diversified trade portfolio will have an index close to zero.

Definition It is calculated as the number of countries to which the reporter exports a particular product divided by the number of countries that report importing the product that year. Tariffs more ». Development Indicators more ». Definition GDP at purchaser's prices is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsidies not included in the value of the products.

It is calculated without making deductions for depreciation of fabricated assets or for depletion and degradation of natural resources. Data are in current U. Dollar figures for GDP are converted from domestic currencies using single year official exchange rates. For a few countries where the official exchange rate does not reflect the rate effectively applied to actual foreign exchange transactions, an alternative conversion factor is used. GNI is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes less subsidies not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income compensation of employees and property income from abroad.

GNI, calculated in national currency, is usually converted to U. To smooth fluctuations in prices and exchange rates, a special Atlas method of conversion is used by the World Bank. By , when total imports were down about 30 percent from their peak volume, industrial inputs continued to dominate imports. Machinery was the most important among these, followed by vehicles and transportation equipment, a variety of chemicals, and oil. After the OPEC boycott of and Iran's cutoff of oil to South Africa in , however, official figures on oil trade were not available. The pattern of trade dominated by gold exports and industrial imports continued in the early s see table 9; table 10, Appendix.

The government continued to promote exports and to limit imports in an effort to create the trade surplus and foreign exchange reserve surplus necessary for debt repayment.