Foreign trade operation
Foreign trade companies (or foreign trade companies ) are trading companies whose core business consists of the export , import or transit trade ( foreign trade ) of goods and services .
General
Operation purpose of foreign trade export of operation is the domestic by in-house production or external production produced economy objects from abroad or the foreign import and its resale after possible further processing in the domestic . If foreign trade functions are carried out directly by a production company , one speaks of direct foreign trade , while the intermediary, independent foreign trade company conducts indirect foreign trade . If the foreign trade company is directly involved in the import or export, it is considered an importer or exporter .
A typical job description in foreign trade companies is the wholesale and foreign trade merchant , the companies are the object of knowledge of the foreign trade business theory .
Know-how
Foreign trade companies must have specific know-how in foreign trade. This includes knowledge about the spatial to bridging distances , language skills , about the transportation problem and knowledge of different political , legal and economic systems .
This results in foreign trade typical risks in the pure domestic trade are not or only attenuated available as country risk ( stop transfer risk , moratorium risk ), supply risks , political risks, transport risk , exchange rate risk , payment risk , payment prohibition risk and intercultural understanding risks . Most risks can be covered by export credit insurance ( Hermes cover ). Payment risks can be reduced or eliminated by down payments , advance payments or payment guarantees (at the exporter), delivery risks through default guarantees , delivery guarantees or contract performance guarantees (at the importer). The banking sector has also created typical foreign trade safeguards (e.g. letter of credit or document collection ). Banks also conduct in international payments , the cash flows by, by the payment of the fee-paying importer for example via the payment system SWIFT and its correspondent banks in the payment receiving Exporter cash as international transfer route ( english clean payment ). In addition, they exchange foreign currencies for domestic currency and vice versa, take on foreign trade financing and carry out hedging transactions .
GDR
Foreign trade companies (until 1968: foreign trade companies ) were the state institutions regularly responsible for foreign trade in the GDR . In the mid-1980s there were around 50–60 AHBs, each of which - to avoid competitive situations - covered a clearly defined economic segment.
- General
In consideration of the GDR's foreign trade monopoly, imports were always carried out by a foreign trade company (AHB). For this purpose, an application had to be submitted to the Ministry for Inner German Trade, Foreign Trade and Material Supply, which precisely described the desired goods. The import request was sent directly to the Commercial Coordination Department, which selected an AHB and commissioned the import.
Foreign trade companies were directly subordinate to the ministry as a state- owned company (VEB). Legal issues were regulated by the Foreign Trade Companies Ordinance (AHB-VO) of January 10, 1974, which also standardized the tasks and integration of the AHB in the GDR's economy. As part of the export, the AHB had to conclude the export contracts in accordance with the agreements in the coordination contract and in the export commission contract as well as in accordance with the offers of the export company. The AHB was obliged to check the solvency of the foreign partner before signing the export contract, to secure the payment and to bear the risk of paying the sales price .
- Selection of state-owned foreign trade companies of the GDR in the 1980s
- Book export VE AHB, Leipzig (books),
- Chemie VE AHB, Berlin (East) (foreign trade for 12 combines of the chemical industry, including VEB Chemisches Kombinat Wolfen (ORWO films))
- DEFA -Außenhandel VE AHB, Berlin (East) (film productions)
- Electronics VE AHB, Berlin (East) (including products from Carl Zeiss Jena)
- FORTSCHRiTT agricultural machinery export-import VE AHB, Berlin (agricultural machinery)
- Fruchtimex VE AHB, Berlin (East) (fruits, vegetables, tomatoes)
- Heimelectric VE AHB, Berlin (East) (electrical household appliances)
- Intercoop VE AHB, Berlin (East) (scientific and technical services, study places)
- Limex-Bau Export-Import , VE AHB of the GDR (building materials)
- Novelty
- Polygraph VE AHB, Berlin (East) (polygraphic mechanical engineering)
- SKET VE AHB, Berlin (East) (heavy engineering)
- Toys and sporting goods VE AHB, Berlin (East) (including leisure products such as tents and folding boats)
- TAKRAF VE AHB, Berlin (East) (mining and opencast mining)
- TEXTIMA VE AHB, Berlin (East) (textile engineering)
- WMW VE AHB, Berlin (machine tools and tools)
- AHB metallurgy trade
- Central Office for International License Trade of the GDR (ZLB), Berlin (East) (technology transfer, consulting)
The foreign trade financing of the AHB was carried out to a large extent by the German foreign trade bank .
literature
- GDR manual , ed. v. Federal Ministry for Internal German Relations, January 1985, ISBN 3-8046-8642-7
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reinhold Henzler, Betriebswirtschaftslehre des Außenhandel , 1970, p. 15
- ^ Wilhelm Christians, Financing Handbook , 1988, p. 373
- ↑ Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden (ed.), Compact Lexicon Internationale Wirtschaft , 2013, p. 43
- ↑ Ulf Bischof, Die Kunst und Antiquitäten GmbH in the field of commercial coordination , 2003, p. 334
- ↑ Ulf Bischof, Die Kunst und Antiquitäten GmbH in the field of commercial coordination , 2003, p. 13
- ↑ Ulf Bischof, Die Kunst und Antiquitäten GmbH in the field of commercial coordination , 2003, p. 35
- ↑ Law Gazette of the German Democratic Republic, Part 1, 1982, p. 336
