International Business - Industries


Business Opportunities and Trade Shows


Development Banks are by their nature interested in encouraging trade and industry in the parts of the world they serve. Some of the websites for the various banks have a tremendous amount of information about their member countries. They also frequently have procurement notices and business opportunities.

  African Development Bank Group
Not as much information as some banks about the countries they serve but there are links to business opportunities with bank projects.

   Asian Development Bank
The website for this bank has links to a tremendous amount of information. Country information is very complete. Business Opportunities are found under the main heading "About ADB", then "Opportunities."

   European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Not sure why this is a .com intead of a .org but it is owned by 61 countries and 2 intergovernmental agencies. The member countries are in central Europe and central Asia, primarily countries that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. The country pages have links to current news and descriptions of projects. There are also pages devoted to business segments. The "Working With Us" homepage leads to their list of procurement opportunities."

  Inter-American Development Bank
The Inter-American Development Bank serves South America and the Caribbean. Each country has a page with a brief overview of the economy but there is much more information available in the Research section. The Projects link at the top of the page goes directly to a searchable database of projects that the Bank has funded. The link to Procurement on this page will lead to another searchable database for business opportunities related to the projects. RSS feeds for automatic notification of procurement notices are available.

  Islamic Development Bank
As its name suggests, this bank's member countries are predominantly Muslim countries located in all parts of the world. There are lists of economic indicators for member countries but not a lot of member specific information. The "Opportunities" link has a list of current requests for bids.


The U.S. Government has resources world-wide in Embassies and Consulates that help identify promising leads for U.S. exporters. Use the navigation column on the left to access the following options:

  1. Trade Leads Database
  3. World Bank and Multilateral Development Banks Opportunities
  4. Billions of dollars worth of international projects are funded every year through the World Bank and the various multilateral development banks (MDBs). You can search for them in the Trade Leads Database above.


Trade Shows

The task of international marketing research is mainly to determine if a company should go international or remain domestic. Companies will:

    • Assess global market demand
    • Determine which market to enter
    • Determine how to enter the markets
    • Determine how to market in target areas

In addition, attending trade shows of the industry is a great way to gather more information about it. You can identify major players, view the products, accumulate product literature, and meet representatives of many of the companies involved. Lists of exhibitors and lists of attendees are also great tools. Many major shows can be identified online through:


  • Export.gov
    Slide over the Opportunities tab at the top to view worldwide Trade Events listed by the government.

  • wildcat Lexis/Nexis Academic
    Includes access to a variety of sources that cover commercial opportunities and their windfalls, risk guides that could affect business, trade or investments in countries around the world, worldwide broadcasts, along with information on business and investment opportunities around the world.

    Follow these steps to access this group of resources:
    1. From the top of the screen, from the Source Directory box, select: Browse.

    LexisNexis browse

    2. From #1, fill in the radio button by:News and Business Topics.
    3. From #2, "Filter by Publication Type", scroll down and select: Industries and Markets.
    4. From the immediate box on the right, highlight: Business Opportunities.

    LexisNexis browse business opportunities
    5. From #3, select the folder titled: Trade and Development.
    6. Place a check by all the sources you want to search.Use the "i" symbol next to each source to determine which source to select. Select your choices. World Business is an excellent choice.
    7. When ready, click: O.K. continue. This brings all the sources to the first screen and now you can use any key words, products, industries, names of companies, etc.in your search.Opportunities