In 2017, The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in partnership with the Department of Industry reviewed progress made to advance the development of Vanuatu’s National Green Export Review (NGER) Action Plan concentrating on coconut-copra, cocoa-chocolate, and sandalwood. The NGER guided national stakeholders through a structured process to identify and develop new export opportunities in green goods and services. Through NGER, UNCTAD launched two new projects to construct a Market Information System and to assist producers to achieve certification with Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS).
What is MIS?
Directory: an official registry of stakeholders, a searchable database listing individuals or organizations with contact information, including name, address and telephone numbers. Repository: a tool to access current information on market conditions at different locations. The data can assist producers in their planning process, help traders in their decisions, and help government officials to formulate well-informed policies. Data can also serve to meet the traceability requirements for sustainable products.
Characteristics:
- Publicly available and easily accessible online
- Developed for two pilot sectors: cocoa and coconut
- Sorts information in simple categories
- Fully customized, modular and scalable, in terms of product coverage, category taxonomy, and information display.
Why MIS?
Understanding market trends is essential for exporters, including policy-makers, trade support institutions and companies. Governments monitor trade performance and provide policy support, while trade support institutions need to set priorities for sectors and target countries. Exporting companies need to be able to scan the global arena for product and market opportunities and to identify potential clients.
MIS is being jointly designed by Vanuatu officials and UNCTAD as a pilot project to serve the cocoa and coconut sectors, with the potential to provide answers to these and other questions:
- How does my company compare to our competitors in specific sectors?
- What is the internal/international demand for my product?
- Who are the major exporters?
- How do foreign buyers contact my business?
- What is the price of my product in markets?
