SMEs and Free Trade Agreements: Engagement and Policy Development

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are key players in all economies and are widely credited with playing an important role in creating jobs and generating economic growth. SMEs who export are widely touted as drivers of growth, competition, innovation, productivity and employment. Moreover, levels of innovation and growth are higher amongst SMEs that trade, than those that don’t as exporters pay better wages, are more competitive and employ more people. Although SMEs play an important role in the economy and their internationalisation can contribute directly to market diversification, it is only recently that they have been explicitly considered as part of New Zealand’s free trade agreement agenda (FTAs), most notably in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreement. This chapter explores the views of New Zealand SME exporters on FTAs as an enabler of exporting, and compares them to the views of an experienced trade negotiator. By considering the views of both SMEs and the Government, a more holistic perspective is provided as to how trade policy—and specifically trade agreements—might help address the needs of SMEs, and support their internationalisation, with attendant benefits for the economy and society at large.

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Notes

In New Zealand the founding document, Treaty of Waitangi, has been included in FTAs since the Singapore CEP in 2001.

These were: New Zealand, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam.

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Authors and Affiliations

1. School of Management, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand Tanya Jurado

1. Tanya Jurado