Europa
Gateway to the European Union

FinFacts
Ireland’s Business & Finance Portal

Intute
A free online service providing access to the very best Web resources for education and research, evaluated and selected by a network of subject specialists.

WWW Virtual Library
The WWW Virtual Library (VL) is the oldest catalogue of the Web, started by Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of HTML and of the Web itself, in 1991 at CERN in Geneva. Unlike commercial catalogues, it is run by a loose confederation of volunteers, who compile pages of key links for particular areas in which they are expert.

Asian Business Watch
ABW is a comprehensive jump-station to sources of economic and investment information in Asia and the Pacific, including Australia.

Basis: Business Access to State Information and Services
This website has been developed in order to provide business with a single access point to all Government information and services.

Biz/ed
A Web site for students and educators in business studies, economics, accounting, leisure, sport & recreation and travel & tourism.

Business Week - Asia
Latest business news on Asia affairs.

CIA World Factbook
Published by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, this online equivalent contains economic, social, and political country profiles of countries. Included are maps and cultural information for international business.

Currencies of the World
Currencies listed by country.

Enterprise Ireland
The Irish state development agency focused on transforming Irish industry.  Our core mission is to accelerate the development of world-class Irish companies to achieve strong positions in global markets resulting in increased national and regional prosperity.

EU Business
The EUbusiness web site is Europe's leading independent online business information service about the European Union.

Europages: The European Business Directory
EUROPAGES is a European B2B brokering platform. Its website currently lists upwards of 2.5 million companies, namely manufacturers, service providers, wholesalers and distributors.

Financial Times
Financial Times Online.

FITA: The International Trade Association
The most comprehensive searchable database of International Trade Web Resources on the Internet! More than 8000 links to International Trade / Import-Export Web sites are annotated and indexed.

Forbes International 800
A useful database that allows searching by the company name, by country, or by industry. There is coverage back to 1997. There is also a link to the Forbes International 500 rankings, including the 100 largest foreign investments in the U.S., the 100 largest U.S. multinationals, and more.

IBEC: Irish Business and Employers Confederation
IBEC works to shape policies and influence decision-making in a way that develops and protects members' interests and contributes to the development and maintenance of an economy that promotes enterprise and productive employment.

International Business Resources on the WWW
Created by the International Business Center at Michigan State University (IBC), globalEDGE™ is a knowledge web-portal that connects international business professionals worldwide to a wealth of information, insights, and learning resources on global business activities

International Chamber of Commerce
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is the world business organization. It links global chamber organizations and committees by country. There are also position papers on current topics in business, such as ethics, marketing, economic policy, etc.

Ireland.com and Irish Times Newspaper
Irish Times Online.

Mondaq
The latest thinking on legal, accounting, regulatory and commercial issues supplied by the world's leading professional advisors.

OFFSTATS: Official Statistics on the Web
This site, maintained by the University of Auckland Library, provides links to official organizations around the world that provide "freely and easily accessible" current statistical data (and some time series). Arrangement is by country, region and topic. Statistical sources cover vital statistics, industries, trade, economics, labor, energy, tourism, health, crime, education, social indicators, and more.

STRATEGIS: Canada's Business Information Site
A wealth of information from Canada's Minister of Industry. Site is in English and French and includes a bilingual search feature. Organized in categories (company, trade and investment, business sector, economic analysis, research, financing, legislation, employment and consumer information), it also includes a news link.

WebEc – world wide web resources in Economics
WebEc categorizes free information in economics on the WWW.

INSTITUTIONS

Bank for International Settlements
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is an international organisation which fosters international monetary and financial cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks.

Central Bank & Financial Services Authority of Ireland
The Central Bank has responsibility for monetary policy functions, financial stability, economic analysis, currency and payment systems, investment of foreign and domestic assets and the provision of central service.

ESRI – Economic and Social Research Institute
A leading European research centre in the social sciences. The main focus is research on economic and social change in Ireland.

European Economic Association
The EUROPEAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION (EEA) is an international scientific body, with membership open to all persons involved or interested in economics.

European Investment Bank - EIB
The European Investment Bank was created by the Treaty of Rome in 1958 as the long-term lending bank of the European Union. The task of the Bank is to contribute towards the integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion of the European Union.

International Finance Corporation - IFC
IFC provides loans, equity, structured finance and risk management products, and advisory services to build the private sector in developing countries.

International Labour Organisation - ILO
The International Labour Organization (ILO) is the tripartite UN agency that brings together governments, employers and workers of its member states in common action to promote decent work throughout the world.

Irish Economic Association - IEA
As the body representing professional economists, the Association is a member of the International Economic Association, and has been involved in the development of support for economic research, initially through the RIA Social Sciences Research Council.

International Economic Association - IEA
Its aim is to promote personal contacts and mutual understanding among economists in different parts of the world through the organisation of scientific meetings, through common research programmes and by means of publications of an international character on problems of current importance.

International Monetary Fund - IMF
The IMF works to foster global growth and economic stability. It provides policy advice and financing to members in economic difficulties and also works with developing nations to help them achieve macroeconomic stability and reduce poverty.

National Economic & Social Council - NESC
The function of the Council is to analyse and report to the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) on strategic issues relating to the efficient development of the economy and the achievement of social justice and the development of a strategic framework for the conduct of relations and negotiation of agreements between the government and the social partners.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development - OECD
The mission of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.

United Nations - UN
The United Nations is central to global efforts to solve problems that challenge humanity.

The World Bank
The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world. Provides access to online publications, world development indicators etc.

World Economic Forum (WEF)
The World Economic Forum is an independent, international organization incorporated as a Swiss not-for-profit foundation.

World Trade Organisation - WTO
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the world’s trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business.

Andean Community
Working areas include Social Agenda, Environmental Agenda, Political Co-operation, Common foreign policy and Productive and Commercial Development.

Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation - APEC
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, is the premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region.

Association of Carribean States - ACS
The objectives of the ACS are based on the following: the strengthening of the regional co-operation and integration process, with a view to creating an enhanced economic space in the region; preserving the environmental integrity of the Caribbean Sea which is regarded as the common patrimony of the peoples of the region; and promoting the sustainable development of the Greater Caribbean.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations - ASEAN
The ASEAN Declaration states that the aims and purposes of the Association are: (1) to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and (2) to promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries in the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter.

Asian Trade Promotion Forum - ATPF
This website offers plenty of information on trade and business in Asia, such as economy, trade fair, business partner, matchmaking, company directory, trade policy, regulation, standard, trade statistic, market information and investment. It is provided by 21 trade promotion organizations in Asia as a portal website for business people accessing Asia.

Caribbean Community - CARICOM
The objectives of the Community, identified in Article 6 of the Revised Treaty, are: to improve standards of living and work; the full employment of labour and other factors of production; accelerated, coordinated and sustained economic development and convergence; expansion of trade and economic relations with third States; enhanced levels of international competitiveness; organisation for increased production and productivity.

Common Market for Eastern & Southern Africa - COMESA
Promoting regional economic integration through trade and investment.

The Co-operation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf
The basic objectives are to effect coordination, integration and inter-connection between Member States in all fields, strengthening ties between their peoples, formulating similar regulations in various fields such as economy, finance, trade, customs, tourism, legislation, administration, as well as fostering scientific and technical progress in industry, mining, agriculture, water and animal resources, establishing scientific research centres, setting up joint ventures, and encouraging cooperation of the private sector.

Council of Arab Economic Unity
The goal of the CAEU is to achieve complete economic unity among the member states.

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean - ECLAC
Founded for the purposes of contributing to the economic development of Latin America, coordinating actions directed towards this end, and reinforcing economic relationships among the countries and with the other nations of the world. The promotion of the region's social development was later included among its primary objectives.

Economic Community of West African States - ECOWAS
The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of fifteen countries, founded in 1975. Its mission is to promote economic integration in "all fields of economic activity, particularly industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, agriculture, natural resources, commerce, monetary and financial questions, social and cultural matters ....."

European Union - EU
Gateway to the European Union

Free Trade Area of the Americas - FTAA
The effort to unite the economies of the Americas into a single free trade area began at the Summit of the Americas, which was held in December 1994 in Miami, U.S.A. The Heads of State and Government of the 34 democracies in the region agreed to construct a Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA, in which barriers to trade and investment will be progressively eliminated. They agreed to complete negotiations towards this agreement by the year 2005 and to achieve substantial progress toward building the FTAA by 2000.

Group of Twenty – G20
The Group of Twenty (G-20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was established in 1999 to bring together systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy.

Group of Thirty – G30
The Group of Thirty, established in 1978, is a private, nonprofit, international body composed of very senior representatives of the private and public sectors and academia.
It aims to deepen understanding of international economic and financial issues, to explore the international repercussions of decisions taken in the public and private sectors, and to examine the choices available to market practitioners and policymakers.

Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA
The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association or Asociación de Economía de América Latina y el Caribe (LACEA) is an international association of economists with common research interests in Latin America. 

North America Free Trade Association - NAFTA
It administers the mechanisms specified under the NAFTA to resolve trade disputes between national industries and/or governments in a fair, timely and impartial manner.

Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
OPEC's mission is to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of Member Countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers and a fair return on capital to those investing in the petroleum industry.

Pacific Islands Forum (PIF)
The Pacific Islands Forum, formerly the South Pacific Forum until a name change in October 2000, was founded in August 1971 and comprises 16 independent and self-governing states in the Pacific. The Forum is the region’s premier political and economic policy organisation. Forum Leaders meet annually to develop collective responses to regional issues.

Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR)
Is a Regional Trade Agreement (RTA) among Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, founded in 1991 by the Treaty of Asunción, which was later amended and updated by the 1994 Treaty of Ouro Preto. Its purpose is to promote free trade and the fluid movement of goods, people, and currency.

PAGE AUTHOR:  Brigid Carey Liaison Librarian to School of Business & Humanities.