High tech exports guide: key things to be watched out for
The export volume of technology industry is increasing at a faster rate. The broadened international bases of technology manufacturing have increased with the multinational firms like Apple, LG, Samsung and HTC expanding its overseas production. A shift is noticed in the nature of production with increasingly specialized geographically suppliers.
Choosing the export
With the export figures increasing, it is found the market is flooded with the new gadgets like notebooks, iPads, Cell Phones etc. from these companies. Choosing what to export becomes the biggest question at such situation. The choice depends on the criteria of the market.
The criteria`s deal with competitions, distribution channels, customers and prices. A country is to be visited in person to get a sense of the practices and the market cultures. The customer practices and the market culture plays a major role as it becomes easier to understand what to export.
Key things for export
There are 8 basic factors one should keep in mind before exporting. They are:
· Geography
· Tradition
· Customers
· Growth Opportunities
· Politics and Economy
· Management and Control
· Transport
· Trading agreements, custom unions and standardization
Geography is a factor in determining the cost. The further away, the expensive it becomes in terms of travel and shipping. With the transport taking too long, the price is sure to increase and cultures being different can lead to costly misunderstandings.
It becomes easy to trade with countries who has past experiences. Tradition is the other factor to be watched out for in this regard. Potential customers need to be identified for the product. Trading with countries which are experiencing growth is beneficiary as they will tend to buy product to enhance the growth.
Political unstable countries are to be avoided as their economy is sure to be less developed. The management and control should be based on the geographical nearness. The distributor`s port folio need to be closely examined. The possible modes of transport needs close examination as delivering the product to the end customer should be done at low cost.
Adhering to the standard conditions is a must. The World Trade Organization encompasses GATT ( General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade). WTO works on liberalization of international trades. Exports should abide by the WTO standards.
Top Export Markets
The high tech companies expect to grow more in terms of export citing a growth in the middle class populations of the developing nations.
By 2015 the figures are expected to double the present ones. Asia and the Middle East countries remains the top choice for many firms. Surveys have found that 22% products are exported to Asia, 18 % to Brazil, 19% in the remaining southern parts of America, 15% in Europe.
Among the Asian nations 8% exports are done in China while in Korea it is 13%.
Regulatory authorities
Regional Integration is done with the help of WTO. The cross national integration is done with the help of organizations like EU, NAFTA etc. The European Union or EU comprises of 27 countries in Europe and determine strategies on international trade tariffs etc.
NAFTA or North American Free Trade Agreement includes US, Canada and Mexico. They eliminate tariff barriers and have various forms of mutual cooperation’s. Disputes are settled via them. There are several other such regulatory organizations like the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) for Asia, SADC, COMESA, WAEMU for Africa.
Advantages
These organizations settle disputes and eliminate the tariff based barriers between nations. Exports are guided by their laws. The organizations promote economic cooperation multilaterally. Apart from maintaining treaties they progress towards free trade nullifying the geographical distances. These organizations focus on pursuit of liberalization of market and economic growth of the region.