Resources for Determining Risk

Unit 1.3- Resources for Determining Political and Economic Risk
The technology of today allows us to communicate freely and easily. Unfortunately not everyone has had exposure to this easy access of information from an early age. This can be a slight handicap to some until the benefits of using the internet are explored and exploited. Using the internet as an information tool continues to grow tremendously with no sign of abatement. The internet is easily navigated providing global information at your finger tips. This is a resource that is constantly adding more information to its data base.

How do we get started for the technically challenged? The first recommendation is to jump in immediately. UNESCO has posted on the internet an article that can help understand the impact of the internet on the world of today. “Key word” search requests are the most common and fastest means to get the most potential data to explore. The most direct is to go directly to the web page by the direct address.

When gathering any type of information whether it be on-line or in publications it is important to verify your source and if possible to gather multiple sources that provide the same data. This type of cross referencing will help you avoid making decisions based on a biased perspective or unreliable data.

The list of international websites on the following pages is extensive but by no means comprehensive. This just demonstrates how vast and extensive information can be by providing a means to communicate and easily engage in international business.

Unit Objective
The goal of this material is to identify sources of information in hard copy and on the internet that provide financial risk data including government agencies, organizations, credit bureaus, etc. By the end of this unit your will be able to:
 * identify sources of information that indicate a country’s level of risk that may affect financial issues.

Unit Outline

 * Introduction
 * Regional Resources
 * Publications
 * World Organizations
 * Credit Agencies
 * Databases
 * Summary
 * Resources
 * Activities
 * Assessment

Correlation: Materials from this unit correlate with NASBITE CGCP's Knowledge Statement 04/01/03: Knowledge of resources for determining risk (e.g., U.S. government organizations, websites, Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s, Euromoney, credit bureaus such as Graydon America and Coface Veritas)

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