This requires market information, an ability to understand and forecast demand and creativity in adapting products and finding a market niche. These requirements add up to three strikes against developing countries. They have serious limitations in research and development, great difficulty in accessing trade information and often lack sophisticated marketing skills. Creativity and new technologies, on the other hand, present these countries with unique opportunities to catch up with the industrialized world. Harnessing these for the benefit of developing countries is a collective challenge.
Competitiveness is the sine qua non of success anywhere.
Yet to become competitive, firms in developing countries must be able to measure and evaluate their performance. ITC has therefore developed a competitiveness gauge that enables firms in developing countries to compare themselves to baseline data from manufacturers around the world. Producers can compare their production, organization and practices with those of enterprises in the same sector, and know where to improve their performance. As developing countries foray more deeply into the global economy, intense teamwork between business and government and among business people themselves has become imperative. Firms and governments must bury their mistrust and communicate constructively on strategies and collaboration.