Stuff Your Stocking

If you've designated 2001 as your year to expand globally, try adding some of these resources to your holiday wish list:

1) The Economist Pocket World in Figures. Want to carry the world in your pocket or briefcase? Check out this handy little book from The Economist. Only 3.5 by 7.25 inches, it's a pleasant alternative to other, more shelf-busting collections of international facts and figures. And it's packed with country profiles, world rankings across a broad spectrum of categories, and an overview of global economic changes over the past century. You can order it through The Economist's online bookshop for $16.09. Older editions are available from Amazon.com.

2) How to Start and Operate a Profitable Home-Based Exporting Company. This offering from Dennis J. Hessler's Spyglass Point Productions discusses how to get started, work with a freight forwarder, create a professional image and find buyers. Hessler also offers e-mail newsletters with details on building export or import businesses. The book costs $33.15. For more information, call (850) 438-5527 or visit www.spyglasspoint.com.

3) A Basic Guide to Exporting. This $16 guide from the U.S. Government Printing Office has recently been revised. The new version discusses how to develop export strategies, deal with international legal considerations, price and ship products, travel abroad, conduct business overseas and provide after-sales service. It also includes an appendix with the addresses of U.S. export assistance services, and U.S. and international Commercial Service posts, plus an export glossary. Order by phone (202-512-1800), fax (202-512-2250) or online.

4) Showcase Europe. This CD-ROM, produced by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Commercial Service, focuses on seven market sectors in Europe: automotive parts and equipment, energy and power generation, environmental technologies, franchising, information technologies, satellite communications, and travel and tourism. For each of these sectors, Showcase offers country-by-country market briefings with demographics and trends, networking information (including e-mail addresses), lists of trade shows, and contact information for Commercial Service specialists. The CD-ROM is available for $125 from the National Technical Information Service. Call (800) 553-NTIS and ask for order number PB99-501611INC, or order via e-mail at orders@ntis.fedworld.gov. NTIS also offers the ever-popular World Factbook ($83), which provides extensive information on 267 countries. For more information, visit www.ntis.gov.

5) Do's and Taboos Around the World for Women in Business. Whether you're a female entrepreneur or have female company reps who travel internationally, you'll find this book from John Wiley & Sons handy. Written by Roger E. Axtell (author of Do's and Taboos Around the World) and others, this book covers issues of sexual discrimination and harassment, protocol and conversation tips, safety advice, and an overview of how women (and women in business) are perceived in each country. Start by testing your cultural awareness with a handy quiz; then look up the sections on language, cultural training, etc. The book retails at Amazon.com.

		'Tis Better To Receive Malta gives the gift that keep on giving: a 10 - year business tax holding The Malta Development Corp. is offering an incentive package to export-oriented projects outside Malta. The package includes a 10-year tax holiday, 3 percent interest loans for up to one third of the capital value of a new plant and/or equipment, training grants, subsidized rents on ready-built factories and relief from customs duty. For details, visit www.investinmalta.com.

Moira Allen is a freelance writer in Chesapeake, Virginia, and editor of Global Writers' Ink, an e-zine for international writers.