Micro, small and medium enterprises can utilize various market research tools to access information and spot opportunities to expand their businesses internationally.

Miguel Aliño Lopez, international consultant at International Trade Centre, said these market research tools include the Trade Map, Export Potential Map, Google Market Finder, Global Trade Helpdesk and Incoterms.

Lopez said the Trade Map (https://www.trademap.org/) is an online database on international trade statistics, providing useful indicators on export performance, international demand, alternative markets, and the role of competitors from both the product and country perspectives.

Level of global market demand for products

"The good thing about the Trade Map is that it will show the level of global market demand for your product, the fastest-growing markets in the world market, who the main importing and exporting countries are, the companies importing my products in a given market, what is the most interesting market for my product, among other information" he said in a virtual training organized by the ITC in partnership with Google and International Chamber of Commerce.

The Trade Map covers 220 countries and territories, and over 5,300 products of the Harmonized System, he added.

With over a million users in 2022, Lopez also said the Trade Map is free to use in the Philippines and all that a business needs to do is to just register to access full features.

He said while the Trade Map shows the trade performances of countries, the Export Potential Map (https://exportpotential.intracen.org/en/) estimates future trade opportunities.

"It estimates five years from now what products are in demand in a specific market, its products, markets and suppliers with unrealized potential, and opportunities for export diversification," he added.

Export Potential Map

The Export Potential Map, he said, covers over 4,000 products merged to 16 sectors and 73 sub-sectors.

"There are few products excluded here covered by international conventions on wastes, pollutants, arms and ammunitions, tobacco, extractive industries, products that cannot be produced like antiques or are irrelevant for marketing intelligence," he said.

Lopez said another market research tool is the Google Market Finder (https://marketfinder.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en) which helps firms identify new international business opportunities using market insights and plans for success.

"It will show the demographics, country profile, economic data, online purchasing behavior and logistics metrics," he said.

Lopez said the tool will then help businesses discover helpful operational information and start selling to customers at home and around the world.

Meanwhile, Lopez said the Incoterms 2020 in Market Access Map is an abbreviation for International Commercial Terms which are a set of trade terms published by the ICC and accepted as well as used by governments, legal authorities and traders in most major trading nations worldwide.