Filtering through the millions of websites throughout
the world to find the few helpful sites is a daunting task. There
are a handful of truly great websites that can be an excellent sales
and market information tool for exporting your products or services.
Highlighted throughout this article are 12 of the best global websites.
Global:
1. Kompass System, http://www.kompass.com
Kompass provides as excellent directory of products, contacts,
and other information for over 1.6 million companies in 61 countries.
Companies are searchable by product or service, company name,
or categories. General information for each company is provided,
such as address, phone, fax, number of employees, capital, and
whether they are a distributor, manufacturer, exporter, importer,
etc. Paid users have unlimited access to the information available.
2. BuyUSA, http://www.buyusa.gov
BuyUSA.gov is the beginning place to identify export resources
available in the U.S. and throughout the world. There are links
to specific country websites for information on finding partners,
getting market research, identifying local resources to assist
you and a host of other business assistance tools. For instance,
the China site at www.buyusa.gov/china/en publishes up to date
business information on sales opportunities related to the '08
Beijing Olympics.
Africa:
3. Mbendi, http://www.mbendi.co.za/
Mbendi is Africa's leading business website and has been designed
to assist its users to identify and research business opportunities
within Africa and specific industry sectors. BMI-T is Africa's
leading IT and telecommunications research company.
Mbendi and BMI-T have collaborated to form African Telecoms and
IT Decisions, providing an Internet-based service for decision
makers in the African Telecommunications and IT sectors. The website
offers extensive information on the telecommunications and IT
industry throughout Africa. Users are able to research profiles
of industries, access databases of companies, organizations or
projects. Companies are searchable by sector, location, or company
name and search results provide contact information, address,
phone, fax, and e-mail. Furthermore, registration is free.
Asia:
4. Access Asia, http://www.AccessAsia.com
Access Asia is designed to assist international traders when they
are searching for potential business partners in Asia. The site
is designed to make doing business with Asia as easy as domestic
business. Users can search by region, company name, products or
services, SIC, and contacts. Business' name, address, telephone
number, and product or services are listed with additional information
for many more.
5. SiS Technologies, http://www.sis.com.hk
SiS Technologies is one of the largest distributors of computer
systems, software, peripherals, and networking products in Asia
with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam,
and Indonesia. SiS provides manufacturers a well established network
of more than 10,000 strategically located resellers, retailers,
system integrators, software houses, value added resellers, and
OEMs. SiS has been deemed a preferred distributor by a number
of world-renowned manufacturers.
Japan:
6. JETRO, http://www.jetro.go.jp/top/index.html
JETRO promotes international business development to the Japanese
market. This is done through a matchmaking service for SME Japanese
and international firms. Users can search on keyword or category
to get listings of potential partners and also sort through the
type of alliance desired, such as import, export, licensing, joint
venture, sales, etc. Additionally, JETRO provides services to
organize exhibitions and trade shows.
Canada:
7. CanadaIT, http://www.canadait.com/cfm/index.cfm
CanadaIT is an outstanding source for the latest Canadian information
technology including company and venture capital information,
news, events, and careers. Membership is free of charge and users
are given a wide variety of information categories to utilize.
More than 3,000 Canadian IT and Internet companies and sectors
are profiled. CanadaIT also includes a technology and business
index allowing users to search within more than 250 technology
and business categories. Additionally, news of recent venture
financings or from venture capital funds is available as well
as member companies' press releases. A regular calendar of events
on the site offers information on trade shows, conferences, workshops,
meetings, and seminars.
8. Strategis Canada, http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_coinf/ccc/engdoc/homepage.html
This website is a huge site providing loads of information on
Canadian businesses. This link specifically directs you to the
section for connecting to buyers, distributors and other partners.
There are over 50,000 businesses listing with searchable capabilities,
trade leads and business profiles. Business profiles contain comprehensive
information on contacts, products, services, trade experience,
and technology. The site visits are 90% Canadian and 13% of the
site users are in the high technology industry. It's a well-kept
secret outside of Canada.
Europe:
9. Euro Pages, http://www.europages.com
Euro Pages is one of the best Europe websites around. Euro Pages,
the European Business Directory, is a "business-to-business
directory published in six languages and actively used in 33 European
countries. Immediately apparent, you can choose your industry
to browse in. Once in a specific industry category, you can conduct
searches by country, industry, or company data. There is also
a large B2B marketplace to source or sell both in and outside
of Europe.
10. The Thomas Global Register (TGR) Europe, http://www.tipcoeurope.be/
The Thomas Global Register Europe, or TGR Europe, facilitates
the purchasing process between industrial buyers and sellers.
An extensive directory of 210,000 manufacturers and distributors
from 17 European countries, classified by 10,500 products and
services categories is provided. TGR Europe offers detailed product
and company information in the major industrialized countries
and can effectively open up foreign markets for suppliers.
United Kingdom and Ireland:
11. Applegate Directory, http://www.applegate.co.uk
(www.apgate.com)
Applegate is the UK's best known and longest established Internet
directory for industry, manufacturing, and technology in the UK
and Ireland. It is the largest and most comprehensive directory
of its type available on the Internet. Applegate covers electronics,
engineering, chemical engineering, plastics industry, and recruitment.
Users may search by company name or product type and results show
company address, phone, fax, website, and usually management contacts
and direct e-mail. This is an excellent UK resource.
Latin America:
12. Amarillas, http://www.amarillas.com/
Launched by Mercantil, Inc., Amarillas has become a powerful Business-to-Business
site for small and medium-size enterprises in Latin America. Amarillas
allows members to expand and personalize their listings, build
a free homepage, and list and market their products and services
on-line. Additionally, a news section is included as well as two
business opportunity identification tools and equity research.
A business directory for North America, Latin America, and Europe
is available. Companies are searchable by company name, industry,
or product. Search results include contact details and products
that the company sells. There are over 162,000 listings for high
technology companies and over 22,000 for software alone.
The Commercial Service is the global business solutions
unit of the Department of Commerce.
We offer U.S. Companies:
We can help your business compete and win in the
global marketplace.
Reprint of this article does not constitute an
endorsement by the National Business Association; the article is
for informational purposes for our members and viewers of our Web
site.
