Going Global : How Europe Helps Small Firms Export

The globalization of markets, and the prospect of a Single European Market by the end of 1992 in particular, have heightened European attention to the export challenge and has spawned an intriguing array of export assistance services designed to help even the smallest business become a global competitor. Some of these initiatives are new and relatively untested; while others are well established and time-tested. The most interesting among them deal with exporting not as an end in itself but as part of a package of internationally development initiatives. In the struggle to become more internationally competitive and to increase exporting among its small- and medium-sized businesses, the United States has much to learn form its European trading partners. Going Global explores the principles that underlie European programs to help small and medium-sized firms export, and presents practical, policy-oriented guidance for creating high-yield export assistance programs in the United States in tough economic times.