Major activities of the Expo will include exhibitions of masterpieces of traditional craftsmanship, live demonstrations of traditional craftsmanship, traditional crafts commodities fair, live experience in the making of traditional crafts, and exchanges and interactions between the audience and traditional craftsmen.

UNESCO: Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial

By the late 1970s conversion to a market economy began, including development of export sectors besides the traditional tea and other commodities.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Another hang-up for gold is the lack of interest in general by non-traditional market players for the yellow metal and commodities in general.

FORBES: P.M. Kitco Metals Roundup: Weaker Technical Chart Picture Pressures Gold, Silver

In the post, I pointed out some of the problems of comparing collectibles to traditional investments such as stocks, bonds or commodities, particularly when the data used to construct collectibles indices, whether they are focused on art or stamps or coins or furniture or watches, can be highly selective.

FORBES: Passion Investments or Irrational Investments?

Some professional money managers are starting to treat commodities as a tradable asset class, which bothers some traditional investors as each commodity has different supply and demand fundamentals.

FORBES: INTERVIEW: Inflation Should Not Be A Problem For U.S., Canada, Gold Prices To Rise -- Dundee's Murenbeeld

Because of this close relationship, the two parties may settle up weeks later, frequently with traditional wire transfers or complex invoicing and trade schemes in electronics, farm equipment, commodities and gems (see box, p. 100).

FORBES: The Invisible Bankers