Archive for February, 2010
International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories. It strengthens the economic and social relationship between the countries. This type of trade integrates world economy to a greater level, in which costs are affected by supply and demand of global events. Almost every kind of product can be found on the international market: food, clothes, spare parts, oil, jewelry, wine, stocks, currencies and water. Services are also traded such as tourism, banking, consulting and transportation in the international market. It is mostly restricted to trade in goods and services, and has a less significant trade in capital, labor or other factors of production.
International Trade is done under the boundaries of trade pacts and treaties which lay down the guidelines for the business, export and import of goods, services and technologies etc. It has become a major source of economic revenue for many nations and in some cases account for a significant part of GDP. It also provides investment, employment and growth opportunities. Lacking international trade, nations would be limited to the goods and services produced within their own region. In the wake of globalization international trade provides opportunity to smaller traders and businessmen to sell their products and services through trade leads in electronic and print media.
Trade Lead is a means for following up and capturing a project. They are a tool for finding a project offered by someone in some other part of the world matching to the set of skills and services you have on offer. The national governments also help companies or traders find such projects by maintaining databases pertaining to this in other countries for eg: the U.S. Government has resources world-wide in Embassies and Consulates that help identify promising leads for U.S. exporters. Through various websites, forums and portals also such projects could be searched and won under different products and services categories. International Trade has led to the opening of markets and economies, thus developing Trade leads between various strata of their economic sectors.
Let us elaborate it by an example. Diamonds are mined in South Africa, but for their cutting they are exported to India as there is less skilled and cheap labor there. They are again sent back to South Africa. Companies or people engaged in the work of Diamond cutting in India look for projects and win them through various trade leads. Thus international trade promotes specialization of countries in certain products and services, trade leads help companies in cutting down on costs of bagging projects.
With time and technology Trade Leads would become more important contributors to the International Trade and make global products and services available to buyers in each corner of the globe.
Manu Vikram Singh
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/international-trade-and-trade-lead-693157.html
A Swiss naturopath, Dr. Alfred Vogel, founded the natural herb firm Bioforce in 1963. Dr. Vogel is now recognized all over the world as the owner of one of the best resources for phytogetherapy. He is an expert in the use of herbs to maintain health, to prevent illness and to cure disease. His Bioforce herbs and herbal products are his own unique expert blend of the latest research and traditional herbalism. At Bioforce consumers find a vast array of fresh herbal products and tinctures from plants grown organically in Switzerland. These plants are noted for their medicinal properties.
Named after the founder, A. Vogel is the brand name of Bioforce herbs for natural healing. Dr. Vogel travels all over the world talking about his products and about a regime of natural health care.
Bioforce began in Roggwil, part of Thurgau, a Swiss canton. The plant runs day and night and has since the beginning of Bioforce. Along with herbal remedies, Bioforce offers health food products as well as book and periodicals that teach a natural and healthy way of life.
The mission of the Bioforce Group is multi-faceted. The priority is given to continuing the life work of founder Vogel, with the production and distribution of natural herbs, food products and remedies. The second facet of the mission is quality service and herbal advances through the latest scientific breakthroughs. The firm is also committed to business activities with integrity and focus on the career development and independence of Bioforce staff.
30 countries dispense Bioforce products. Besides the United States, you can find Bioforce retailers or subsidiaries in Canada, France, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, UK, Australia, Holland, India, South Africa and Scandinavia. Exclusive Bioforce herbal distribution agencies operate in Austria, the Baltic, Italy, Portugal, Singapore and Slovenia.
Bioforce is produced in five different plants. The main facility is in its homeland, Roggwill Switzerland. The others are in Colmar France, Elburg Holland, India and South Africa. While many of the great Bioforce herbs are well known, none are more recognized and more touted than horse chestnut tablets and Echinacea.
Labeled Venaforce, Bioforce sells horse chestnut tablets to promote the health circulation of blood. The Venaforce product strengthens capillary and vein walls, which strengthens legs, promotes energy, and comforts weak ankles. The Venaforce caplets are coated to make them easier to swallow.
Echinacea by Bioforce is three times as beneficial as other brands with standard dried Echinacea herb extracts. What the herbs do is stimulate immune systems, thus supporting a natural resistance to virus and bacteria. Completely organic, Bioforce Echinacea is made up of the herb’s roots combined with another herb, purpurea.
Both horse chestnut tablets and Echinacea have been well documented through independent scientific research to offer the natural benefits that Bioforce acclaims.
Dustin Cannon
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/bioforceful-85531.html
FICO is an acronym for Fair Isaac Corporation.
FICO Credit Scoring is a method developed by Fair Isaac & Co. to evaluate your ‘credit worthiness’.
There are really three FICO scores computed to find my FICO Score. They are found by data provided by each of the three bureaus – Experian, Trans Union and Equifax. Some lenders use one of these three scores, while other lenders may use the middle score.
While the most widely-known score in the United States is FICO (which is most widely used in the mortgage industry), there are many others, such as NextGen and Vantage Score.
A credit score attempts to judge the likelihood that a prospective borrower will fail to repay a loan or other credit commitment over a specified period of time. Credit scores are based on the information in an individual’s credit report. Lenders use credit scores to evaluate the potential risk posed by lending money to consumers in an attempt to limit business losses related to risk.
Some of these uses include determining who qualifies for a loan, assigning an interest rate, assigning credit limits, and managing accounts that are already open (for example, treatment of accounts that are in default).
The FICO scores are designed to indicate the likelihood that a borrower will be delinquent within the next 24 months. No public information is available to determine what the scores mean in terms of statistics. A separate score, BNI, is used to indicate likelihood of bankruptcy.
If your FICO Credit Score is marginally low, or definitely low, you should consider credit repair before you apply for any new credit, whether that would be a home Equity Line, Auto Purchase or Student Loan. Credit card debt consolidation under your own motivation is probably the most effective repair. Other credit consolidation beside credit card consolidation may be in order, but if your FICO Credit Score is lower than desired Credit Cards are the most likely point to attack first.
The three major credit reporting agencies (also often, but inaccurately referred to as credit bureaus) in the United States, (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) calculate their own credit scores. These versions, while all developed for the agencies by Fair Isaac, differ and are periodically updated to reflect current consumer repayment behavior. The NextGen Scores are the most recent scores, but creditors vary in which version they prefer to use.
Each of the credit reporting agencies has developed its own version of the credit score intended to compete with Fair Isaac’s score. Although not as widely used, these scores (for example Trans Union’s “TransRisk” score or Experian’s “ScoreX” score) are less expensive than the FICO score. These scores are often derisively referred to by consumers and lenders as “FAKO” scores, for they do not use official Fair Isaac methodologies.
Fair Isaac offers scoring models for the U.S., Canada, and South Africa. It also offers a “Global FICO” for many other countries.
Although the exact formulae for calculating credit scores are closely guarded secrets, Fair Isaac has disclosed the following components and the approximate weighted contribution of each:
35% punctuality of payment in the past (only includes payments later than 30 days past due)
30% capacity used: the ratio of current revolving debt (credit card balances, etc.) to total available revolving credit (credit limits)
15% length of credit history
10% types of credit used (installment, revolving, consumer finance)
10% recent search for credit and/or amount of credit obtained recently
C R Ellsworth
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/fico-credit-scoring-57162.html
African Gifts of the Spirit Pentecostalism & the Rise of Zimbabwean Transnational Religious Movement
This book considers the rise of born-again Christianity in Africa through a study of one of the most dynamic Pentecostal movements. David Maxwell traces the transformation of the prophet Ezekiel Guti and his prayer band from small beginnings in the townships of the 1950s into the present-day transnational business enterprise, which is now the Zimbabwe Assemblies of God. Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa claims one and a half million members in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa and has branches in other African countries, Europe, and the United States. “African Gifts of the Spirit” illuminates Africa’s relations with American Christianities, black and white.
What business entrepreneurs are to the economy, social entrepreneurs are to social change. They are, writes David Bornstein, the driven, creative individuals who question the status quo, exploit new opportunities, refuse to give up–and remake the world for the better. < br> How to Change the World tells the fascinating stories of these remarkable individuals–many in the United States, others in countries from Brazil to Hungary–providing an In Search of Excellence for the nonprofit sector. In America, one man, J.B. Schramm, has helped thousands of low-income high< br> school students get into college. In South Africa, one woman, Veronica Khosa, developed a home-based care model for AIDS patients that changed government health policy. In Brazil, Fabio Rosa helped bring electricity to hundreds of thousands of remote rural residents. Another American, James Grant, < br> is credited with saving 25 million lives by leading and ‘marketing’ a global campaign for immunization. Yet another, Bill Drayton, created a pioneering foundation, Ashoka, that has funded and supported these social entrepreneurs and over a thousand like them, leveraging the power of their ideas< br> across the globe. < br> These extraordinary stories highlight a massive transformation that is going largely unreported by the media: Around the world, the fastest-growing segment of society is the nonprofit sector, as millions of ordinary people–social entrepreneurs–are increasingly stepping in to solve the< br> problems where governments and bureaucracies have failed. How to Change the World shows, as its title suggests, that with determination and innovation, even a single person can make asurprising difference. For anyone seeking to make a positive mark on the world, this will be both an inspiring read< br> and an invaluable handbook.
Only if they do the right thing at the right time will owners of small businesses succeed. Simple enough, but what are the factors in their psychological makeup that enable them to do it? Frese and his contributors have studied small businesses in four African countries from a psychological perspective–the first time this has been done–and report that it’s the psychological aspects of their strategies, not just the strategies themselves, that contribute significantly to their success. They also prove that many of the stereotypes that seem to characterize the owners of microbusinesses are clearly incorrect. Executives, analysts, bankers, international entrepreneurs, and their academic colleagues will discover that many of the conclusions they have drawn from previous studies can not be generalized. Only by separating those that can be generalized from those that can not, can we get a true understanding of the small business entrepreneurial dynamic. Frese and his colleagues focus on South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Zambia to produce a clear overview of the research on microbusiness and entrepreneurship in developing countries. They find that psychological strategies are closely related to entrepreneurial success, but because conditions in these countries differ widely, the particulars of certain strategies and their effectiveness may also differ. They show that a number of ideas prevalent among professionals and entrepreneurship researchers in developing countries need to be challenged. Among them, that microenterprise owners who started their companies because they were unemployed do worse than those who started for other, more “positive” reasons. Also, that human capital(education) represents the most important set of variables to be considered for success (it isn’t), or that employing family members decreases success (it doesn’t). Well written and impeccably researched, the book is an essential contribution to corporate and academic libraries, as well as to
I am working for a non-profit organization, 25:40, that supports children affected by HIV/AIDS in South Africa. They are a great organization, and have asked me to research how to best raise more money. Specifically, they are trying to bring a gospel choir from the town, Hamburg, on the Eastern Cape, that they support to perform in the U.S. for their annual World AIDS Day concert. We thought it would be smart to ask local businesses for donations to bring these people over here, and they can advertise themselves at the performances. However, we are not sure what type of businesses to approach (we are located in the Washington, D.C. area), or even what the best way to do this is. Any thoughts or suggestions would be great! Thanks!
more information on 25:40 at www.2540.org
Do you have any suggestions of what type of businesses to approach? We have created 2 documents, one explaining the choir and concert, and one detailing the work of 25:40, but do not know who to give them to! Are there any large corporations that have donation funds?
You need a letter. It needs to be on the letterhead of your organization. It needs to be addressed to that particular store.
It should be hand carried. Go to the store and ask for the store manager.
The store will be much more likely to donate a product to you rather than cash. So you might want to be thinking of having an auction at a fund raising event.
The letter should follow a formula.
WHO YOU ARE: (I’m John Doe with So and So Organization, that supports Gizmos)
WHAT YOU WANT: (We are in need of either cash donations, or items suitable for raffle)
WHAT YOU PLAN TO DO WITH IT: (We will send choirs to the AIDS Day Concert)
Finish with: Your Contribution is tax deductible to the extent of the law, and we greatly appreciate your consideration.
Be as brief as possible. Good Luck to you!
For your added question. You asked initially about SMALL businesses. They generally donate products or gift certificates. Your local sporting goods store may donate a fishing rod for example. Maybe small appliance store donates a tv, a restaurant donates a certificate for dinner for 2. You get 30-40 gifts and hold an auction.
Most large corporations may have some cash to donate, but they are extremely particular who they donate it to. They expect to see their name on all your brochure as "in kind" advertising and they go with the large, established, commonly recognized charities, rather than one they have never heard of.
In other words, if you have to take a page to tell them who you are, you are not likely to get cash from a large corp.
If you are planning to mail out something that contains 2 or 3 pages. You will fail. No one is going to give the time to read it. Put everything on one page and "If you have any questions, please contact me at blah blah blah.
GRANDLAND IMPORT AND EXPORT COMPANY.
GOODS FOR IMPORT/EXPORT & FREIGHT FWDG SVCS.
UNITS 3A & 3B,OLYMPIC WAY,
SEFTEN BUSINESS PARK,AINTREE yeoville. L30 1RD, South Africa
Good Day,
I am Norman Daniels Glover, we are a group of business men who deal on raw
materials and export into america/europe and canada We are searching for
representatives who can help us establish a medium of getting to our
costumers in America/Europe as well as making payments through you to us.
Please if you are interested in transacting business with us we will be very
glad.
Please contact our procurement officer, Mr leonard Gosh for more information
concerning the transaction at;
GLIEC PROCUREMENT OFFICE.
Gosh leonard
TEL:0927782326872
EMAIL:goshleonardmail@yahoo.com
Subject to your satisfaction you will be given the opportunity to negotiate
your mode of which we will pay for your services as our representative in
america/europe.
Please if you are interested, forward to us your phone number/fax and your
full contact addresses immediately to Mr Gosh leonard for more information
regarding this favourable transaction.
Respectfully Submitted,
Norman Daniels Glover,
President
GRANDLAND IMPORT AND EXPORT COMPANY.
GOODS FOR IMPORT/EXPORT & FREIGHT FWDG SVCS.
UNITS 3A & 3B,OLYMPIC WAY,
SEFTEN BUSINESS PARK,AINTREE yeoville. L30 1RD, South Africa
SCAM and FRAUD. Don’t get involved and do not give out any personal information.
"Cheap" and "business class" – very hard combination to find. To find the cheapest flights (for us economy folks at least) would be to check directly at the airline websites. I’ve found that Emirates and Virgin are the cheapest.
However, the underlying (more important issues) are verifiably true. In August and September 2006, Senator Barack Obama traveled to South Africa, Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Chad and Kenya as a congressional delegation of one (Codel Obama) (“Codel Obama” The Hill 9/7/2006) While in Kenya, Obama consistently appeared at the side of fellow Luo Raila Odinga (“your agent for change’), who was running for President. (“Senator Rebukes Kenya’s Corruption” Chicago Sun Times 8/29/2006) Because of his African heritage, Obama was treated as a virtual “Head of State” in Kenya While campaigning with Odinga, Obama was openly critical of governmental corruption under President Mibaki –usually a fair, if undiplomatic, criticism from an objective observer.
However, Kibaki’s government has been better than most—and Odinga has his own corruption issues.(
“Loud and Populist, But No Political Outsider” The Guardian 12/29/2007)
Obama’s partisan support for Odinga was considered so transparent, that the Kenyan Government spokesman, Alfred Matua, complained of political posturing to aid Odinga’s election chances: “It is very clear that the senator has been used as a puppet to perpetuate opposition politics,”(“Walking The World Stage” Newsweek 9/11/06) And, “…we earlier thought he was mature in his assessment of Kenyan and African politics,” Mutua told AFP.”We forgive him because it is his first time in the Senate and he is yet to mature into understanding issues of foreign policy,” he said.”(“Obama’s Kenya Honeymoon Ends Abruptly After Graft Rebuke” 8/29/06) Subsequently, Ambassador Ogingo Ogego made a public complaint to the US.(“Kenyan Envoy Kicks Off Diplomatic Row” My Africa 9/27/2006)
Raila Odinga subsequently lost the controversial (probably rigged) presidential election. In what appeared to many—including Human Rights Watch– as a coordinated strategy from the top, (“Violence We Fled was Planned, Say Kenyan Refugees” Reuters 1/26/2008 and “Kenya: Violence Planned Before Poll, Says Report” The Nation 3/18/2008) his Luo supporters (a core of whom call themselves The Taliban”(“Ethnic Gangs Rile Kenyan Slums” Newsweek 1/10/08)) engaged in what US Envoy Jendayi Frazer called “clear ethnic cleansing” (“US Envoy Calls Violence in Kenya ‘Ethnic Cleansing’” USA Today 1/30/2008) of the Kikuyu opposition.
Odinga’s supporters went on a rampage—burning Kikuyu homes and businesses, (“Ethnic Cleansing in Luoland” The Economist 2/7/2008) raping Kikuyu women, and murdering everyone in their path—including at least 50 Christian Kikuyu woman & children who had sought refuge in a church. They burned them alive. (“Mob Burns Kenyans Seeking Refuge In Church” CNN 1/10/2008)
“We have evidence that ODM [Odinga’s party] politicians and local leaders actively fomented some post-election violence,” Georgette Gagnon, acting Africa director for the New York based Human Rights Watch (HRW), said on Thursday.” (Violence We Fled was Planned, Say Kenyan Refugees” Ibid)
So: who is Raila Odinga that Senator Obama would expend his political capital and risk the goodwill of half the population of Kenya?
Their relationship is unclear. The BBC initially reported that Obama and Odinga were first cousins.(“Odinga Says Obama is His Cousin” 1/8/2008) The Obama campaign has since denied a familial relationship. Raila Odinga’s father Oginga Odinga was leader of the “Kenya People’s Union” and perceived as a “committed socialist” (“Oginga Odinga: Kenya’s Most Persecuted Politician” Kenya: Key Issues 8/21.2002). Odinga Sr. was also the political ally of fellow Luo; Barack Obama Sr.(The Risks of Knowledge (Ohio University Press, 2004) p. 182)
What we do know about Odinga is not good. A former Minister of Energy, Odinga is reported to have been set up in the oil business by the al Bakri Group and Muammar Quaddafi (“How Rich is Raila-The ODM Kenya Presidential Aspirant?” African Press 4/26/2007) Abdel Qader Bakri (or- Abdulkader al Bakri) was listed on the infamous “Golden Chain”–an internal Al-Queda list of wealthy Saudi financial sponsors seized by Bosnian police in a Islamic “charity” raid in 2001. (“Terrorist Financing Staff Monograph 9/11 Commission and “The Golden Chain”) According to his website, Odinga was educated in Communist East Germany, (Herder Institute, Leipzig & Otto von Guericke Tech. Institute, Magdeburg) (http://www.raila07.com) Odinga’s eldest son is named “Fidel” (http://www.raila07.com)
Perhaps most troubling is Odinga’s links to Islamic extremists in Kenya. According to Voice of America and the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, on 8/29/07, Odinga signed a secret agreement (exposed 11/27) with Sheikh Abdullah Abdi of the National Muslim
Leaders Forum (NAMLEF) in which he agreed to institute Islamic law in exchange for Abdi’s support (eakenya.org)–thereby potentially disenfranchising and curtailing the liberties of millions of Christian Kenyan women. Further, he promised that Muslims suspected of terrorism would be safe from ex
sweetjan, i deleted that part of the article at the top, for exactly this sort of response. if you go read the article, it addresses your "pants on fire" rating….nice try though.
no, tony, you racist, i’m from Illinois. I got to see osama..er obama close up before any of you did, and I KNOW he’s a criminal.
Avro, i’m a libertarian. not a republican. I didn’t even vote for Mccain. don’t like him either, but at least he’s not a criminal, like obama. I voted early, for Barr.
what a shock. BOSTONIA.. it’s an article from African Press International- yes i understand that your kneejerk is Everyone who doesn’t worship obama is a neocon. IM (for the last time) A LIBERTARIAN AND I VOTED FOR BARR!
But, I do live right under chitcago in illinois and happen to KNOW obama is a criminal. I’m just providing the warning, so that you cant say later "i didnt know"
Great research!
Yes, of course, you’re right. This entire election will be about George Soros’s third attempt to install a puppet regime, to fulfill his promise that he would use every last dollar of his wealth to destroy America and turn it into a third world nation, because he despises and hates our freedom and wants to see socialism should rise to power. He failed with Gore, failed with Kerry, but has planned well to succeed with Obama.
The Clintons weren’t on board with Soros’s plan to destroy America, so they were promptly dismissed. Obama, however, is a believer. And the media is dutifully ignoring all the things that helped Gore and Kerry lose. (Notice not a single word was said during any of the debates about the Second Amendment, for example.)
Obama is loaded with questionable history. But none of it will be mentioned the Soros-directed moritorium has been lifted… AFTER the election.
Democrats don’t care. They just see this all as a rebuke of the Bush Administration. So they will get their celebration… and only afterwards realize what a huge mistake they made. And then they’ll complain, "Well, why didn’t anyone point these things out during all the time when he was running?"
It’s amazing to me how willingly people allow themselves to manipulated by the media, and by extension, by a single despot (Soros) who is bent on destroying the very freedom that they enjoy. I never thought we would be so gullible as a nation. I guess I was wrong.