The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has published the Directory of Trade Promotion/Development Organizations of Developing Countries and Areas in Asia and the Pacific every two years since 1983, in cooperation with the national focal points of the Regional Trade and Investment Information Network (TISNET). However, the title of the seventh edition of the Directory was changed to Directory of Trade and Investment-related Organizations of Developing Countries and Areas in Asia and the Pacific, reflecting the expansion of its coverage.

The information on about 300 organizations included in the eighth edition (1997) was collected through questionnaires, reports and other sources in cooperation with the TISNET national focal points. The organizations are listed by country in alphabetical order, in the following categories:

• chambers of commerce, trade associations
• commodity boards, marketing, and state trading organizations
• design centres
• export processing zones
• investment authorities
• productivity centres
• shippers' councils, port authorities, national shipping corporations
• standards, testing, and inspection bodies
• trade and investment financing organizations, credit guarantee and insurance organizations, banks
• trade development/promotion organizations, ministries of trade
• trade facilitation bodies
• trade fair and exhibition authorities
• training/research institutions, organizations with training functions.

It is hoped that, as in the past, this Directory will continue to be one of the information sources for promoting cooperation among developing countries in the region, and also in areas such as joint marketing, exhibitions and other cooperative forms of trade and investment promotion. Arrangements are under way to enable this Directory to become accessible through the United Nations home page (www.un.org).

An example of the Contents page giving the names of the organizations with entries, from selected countries are given below:

Bangladesh
• Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC)
• Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA)
• Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC)
• Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI)
• Board of Investment (BOI)
• Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI)
• Export Promotion Bureau (EPB)
• Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI)
• International Trade Organization Wing
• Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB)
• Shippers' Council of Bangladesh
• Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB)

Viet Nam
• Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Viet Nam (VCCI)
• Directorate for Standards and Quality (STAMEQ)
• Foreign Trade and Investment Development Center (FTDC)
• International Research, Consulting and Training Centre for Foreign
• Economic Relations (ICTC)
• Vietnam Institute for Trade (VIT)
• Vietnam Superintendence and Inspection Company (VINACONTROL)
• Vietnam Trade Information Centre (VTIC).

• Asia EDIFACT Board (ASEB)
• Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
• Asian and Pacific Coconut Community (APCC)
• Asian and Pacific Development Centre (APDC)
• Asian Clearing Union (ACU)
• Asian Development Bank (ADB)
• Asian Finance and Investment Corporation Ltd. (AFIC)
• Asian Productivity Organization (APO)
• Asian Reinsurance Corporation (ARC)
• Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP)
• Association of Food Marketing Agencies in Asia and the Pacific (AFMA)
• Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC)
• Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)
• Association of Training Institutions for Foreign Trade in Asia and the Pacific (ATIFTAP).