At the risk of sounding cliché, the Internet has made the world a smaller place. Now data that was once only available in a foreign country can be accessed from your desktop. However, it would be a mistake to think that locating international data is as easy as checking the census bureaus. Creating a comprehensive list of websites for international research is a monumental task. Each country is unique, as are its information sources. In addition, many countries do not share the North American democratic attitude toward sharing information, and many governments have not compiled and archived data, let alone made it available to the public.

If you have ever tried researching a foreign company, country, or industry you may have found it a tough go, and the research process takes longer than usual. We find the task is easing, as more and more information-rich sites from countries around the world are made available. As you might expect many of the sites you find will not be in English, so if you don’t speak the language in question, start with a good dictionary or a bilingual friend.

We have discovered in researching a foreign country that metasites, or portals, can serve as great starting places. You can take advantage of the efforts of individuals who have already scoured the Web, selected and reviewed the best websites, and organized them. Be aware that many U.S. business information sites also have versions that operate in other countries. For example, the respected information provider Hoovers, Inc. (www.hoovers.com) has corporate and financial information on thousands of U.S. companies. Hoovers also operates a site in the United Kingdom at www.hoovers.com/uk that covers news and financial information on British companies. The accounting information portal Accounting Web (www.accountingweb.com) has a site in the United Kingdom at www.accountingweb.co.uk.

Don’t overlook country-specific general search engines like Google as a resource for tracking down business information. Google offers international researchers a suite of language tools (access them by clicking on the language tools link on the Google home page). The language tools include a translation program for the translation of text on Web pages and an option to set the Google interface to a selected language. (There are over 80 language choices, including pig Latin). The language tools page also includes a link to the 45 country-specific Google sites like Google U.K. (www.google.co.uk) and Google Liechtenstein at www.google.li. Information services such as LexisNexis and Dialog are also great sources for international information. These services have hundreds of global news sources, economic analyses, and international company data.

Free site – American Chamber of Commerce Abroad
www.uschamber.org/chambers/international/international_directory.asp

Fee-based – Bureau van Dijk is an aggregator of business information on European companies. The web site of this Belgium-based company provides an excellent tool for targeting companies within a particular industry or accessing detailed financial information. The amount of information available at www.bvdep.com is vast.

Free site – U.S Commercial Service www.ita.doc.gov/cs/index.asp is the global business unit of the U.S Department of Commerce. The Commercial Service maintains 151 international offices in 83 countries.

Free site – Corporate Information www.corporateinformation.com. On the home page you can search by industry, country, or company name. You can also use the Research a Country’s Industry feature to find information about a specific industry in a designated country. For example, entering “Automotive” in the industry box and “Argentina” in the country box generates a list of sources relating to the automotive industry in Argentina. You will find hundreds of sites relating to industries and companies around the world.

Free and fee-based sites – Economist/Economist Intelligence Unit www.economist.com/index.cfm and www.eiu.com. The London-based Economist magazine is one of the world’s most respected sources for independent global economic and political news. If the Economist.com website did nothing more than reproduce a portion of the content of the print magazine, it would still be a “first place to go” site, but the Economist.com goes well beyond being an electronic version of the magazine. The core of the website is the wealth of current news stories, many of which are free. Articles are arranged in sections including Opinion, World, Business, Finance & Economics, Science & Technology, and Diversions. In addition to the articles, Economist.com has a large collection of reference materials including: Country Briefings, Business Encyclopedia, Backgrounders and Surveys.

These are just a few of our favourites. If you require any further guidance on where to find what you’re looking for please contact us at info@hendersonrobb.com.