2015: SME Competitiveness, Standards and Regulations

The working papers listed below are part of ITC’s working paper series. Working papers represent research in progress and are published to elicit comments and to further debate. The opinions expressed in the papers listed below are those of its authors and do not necessarily represent those of ITC, UN or WTO.

SME Competitiveness, Trade and Development

In 2014, ITC commissioned a series of 7 working papers from eminent academics and policy experts on the link between SMEs, trade and development globally. The results of this work are listed below alongside a short video of the author's views on SMEs, trade and development.

SMEs, Trade and Development in South-east Asia [PDF]
Charles Harvie (School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Faculty of Business,
University of Wollongong)

SMEs, Trade and Development in Latin America [PDF]
Carlo Pietrobelli (Inter-American Development Bank and University Roma Tre)
Gerald A. McDermott (Darla Moore School of Business University of South Carolina
and Senior Research Fellow IAE Business School Universidad Austral)

SMEs, Trade and Development in Africa [PDF]
Herbert Wamalwa (Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi)
Dorothy McCormick (Institute for Development Studies,University of Nairobi)

SMEs, Trade and Development in GCC Countries [PDF]
Ashraf Ali Mahate (Handam bin Mohammed Smart University, Dubai)

SMEs, Trade and Development in China [PDF]
Lei Zhang (Shanghai University of International Business and Economics)
Longxiang Shi (Shanghai Center for Global Trade and Economic Governance and
School of International Business)
Hang Zhang (Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, and
World Trade Institute, Bern)

SMEs, Trade and Development in Ukraine [PDF]
Jaroslav Zhalilo (Institute for Economics and Forecasting, Kiev)

SMEs, Trade and Development in Tunisia [PDF]
Leila Baghdadi (Tunis Business School)

Report
- SMECO-2016-FIN-web.pdf (English)
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- WEDF 2016: Standards, a Gateway to Global Markets
  
  Businesses and policymakers have strategic choices to make about selecting and investing in standards, a key to international value chains. This session outlined key findings of ITC’s flagship report “SME Competitiveness Outlook 2016: Meeting the Standard for Trade” and showed how businesses and policymakers can address these issues...
- TDS 2015: SMEs, Connecting to Global Markets
  
  As part of the 2015 Trade and Development Symposium taking place in Nairobi, ITC and IDB are organising a joint session to discuss how SMEs can effectively connect to global markets. The increased integration of developing countries into the global trading system continues to transform the trade landscape. The logic of such integration is that firms can no longer just rely on being competitive in the domestic, or even regional, market to ensure their long-term survival. Watch the event here.
- SME Competitiveness: Why it Matters – WEDF, Doha
  
  ITC presented its new annual flagship publication, the SME Competitiveness Outlook 2015. This year’s theme was: Connect, Compete, and Change for inclusive growth. The report contains rich data for trade and investment institutions, and investors.
- ITC 2015 Working Papers
  
  In 2015, ITC launched its new Working Papers series. The first set of working papers focus on SME competitiveness, trade and development.
- SMEs and Global Markets: The Missing Link for Inclusive Growth, March 2015
  
  At this ITC policy debate first findings of the forthcoming ITC SME Competitiveness Outlook were presented to the Geneva based policy and trade expert community as part of ITC’s consultation exercise on the forthcoming flagship publication.
- SME Competitiveness, Trade and Development Workshop, March 2015
  
  In preparation for the launch a new flagship publication on SME Competitiveness, ITC organized a workshop where the authors of the SMEs, Trade and Development Series presented their initial findings. You can find more information including their presentations here.