Meet WITS@AI: your AI-powered assistant for international trade

Connecting the dots: meet the WITS Knowledge Assistant for Trade Analysis

Is "Harmonized System nomenclature" giving you a headache? Are you tired of jumping between a PDF user manual, an API guide, and a separate economic report just to find one answer? 

International trade data is a goldmine for researchers, policymakers, and businesses. But the knowledge required to use that data effectively — methodologies, definitions, and technical guides — is often scattered across the internet.

Have you ever wanted to have a conversation with the User Manual, Report, or API User Guide?

Enter the experimental WITS@AI Chatbot.

We are testing a new, intelligent assistant designed to be your central hub for trade expertise. It is not just a search bar: it is a unified knowledge base that brings together documents from different corners of the trade ecosystem into one conversation.

One interface, many sources

Historically, finding answers meant, first of all, to identify then read different documents based on your needs. In the case of WITS, the World Bank's hub for trade data, each user needed the WITS User Manual for navigation, the WITS API Guide for technical queries, and the WDR 2020 report to understand Global Value Chains.

We have changed that.

We have trained our new AI-powered tool to combine cross-reference documents that were previously stored in different locations. It creates a bridge between:

• 📘 The WITS User Manual & Glossary
• ⚙️ The WITS API Documentation
• 📊 The Trade Competitiveness Diagnostic Toolkit
• 📉 Ad-Valorem Equivalent (AVE) Estimation Guides
• 🌍 The WDR 2020 Paper on Global Value Chains
• And more (see full list here)

Instead of hunting for the right file, you simply ask a question. The AI scans this entire library instantly to give you a coherent, synthesized answer.

How can WITS AI assistant help you?

This experimental tool is designed to smooth out the learning curve. While it does not fetch the raw data numbers, it explains how to find and use them.

• ⚡ Unified methodological support: Need to understand how Index of Export Market penetration is calculated and obtain the data in WITS Trade Outcomes Module? The chatbot pulls context from multiple technical guides to give you the full picture.
• 💡 Answer the "classic" questions: One of the most common questions we get is: "Why are exports from Country A to Country B not the same as imports from Country B to Country A?" The AI explains the nuances of CIF vs. FOB valuation, which provides invaluable insights into the data.
• 🧭 Smart navigation: Forget getting lost in menus or scrolling through a 100-page long PDF. Simply ask: "How do I compose an Advanced Query for trade?" or "How do I access Product Concordance?" and get immediate guidance.

Note: We still have α-ßΩτ, which is still there to help you find data. 

Why use AI for trade knowledge?

Time is your most valuable resource. By consolidating these scattered resources into a single interface, we allow you to stop searching and start analyzing. Whether you are a student writing a thesis or a policymaker analyzing tariffs, this tool acts as your personal research assistant, available 24/7.

Quick tips? You don't need to act as a prompt engineer by stating roles like “You are a trade data expert” when asking about RCA; just provide context for your question, such as (1) What is RCA? or (2) How to interpret RCA values and their limitations.

Not sure what question to ask, select a question from “Prompt of the day” or browse through the “Prompt Library.”

Bonus tip: You can ask the question in your native language instead of English? For example, in Spanish: “¿Qué es la nomenclatura HS o HS combinada?”

Ready to dive in?

Trade analysis shouldn't require a scavenger hunt for documentation. Test drive the experimental by reading more about WITS@AI overview or go starting to WITS@AI and experience the power of unified trade intelligence.