Trade negotiators are faced with a bewildering array of new agreements on the horizon. Before embarking on any agreement, governments have to understand the consequences of such a policy. This course is aimed at equipping trade analysts with the economic and spreadsheet knowledge that they need to carry out such research.
Researchers will learn about sources of data, as well as basic techniques to manipulate the data into a useable format. The course will be based mainly on MicroSoft Excel, using real trade and tariff data. The course organisers will attempt to base the examples in the course on the participants' countries of origin, if possible.
Each new concept will be introduced through lectures and then participants will do examples on their own, using real trade data. Participants will thus also become more familiar with their own trade data.
The course will be presented by trade economists from TIPS and will be presented at TIPS' offices in Pretoria, South Africa.
The course will cost R5000 but a limited number of bursaries are available for researchers from the region (outside South Africa).