Transformations  in
Business & Economics

Policy Support for the Internationalization of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises: Evidence from Slovenia
Lidija Hauptman, Vito Bobek, Vesna Cancer, Igor Perko, Romana Korez Vide

ABSTRACT. This paper introduces necessary key policy support guidance for the internationalization of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Slovenia. It is based on an examination of barriers to the internationalization of SMEs and an evaluation of policy support to SMEs in Slovenia. For this purpose the mean importance of the primary motives for entering foreign markets, the barriers and problems to entering and doing business at foreign markets, as well as the knowledge and expectations about governmental and non-governmental support services were measured in the first part of the empirical research. In the second part of the research, the web portal of Slovenian Public Agency for Entrepreneurship and Foreign Investment (PAEFI) was analysed with the intention to evaluate a website’s contribution in complying with key PAEFI goals – primarily, providing support for SME activities.

KEYWORDS: SMEs, internationalization, policy support, Slovenia.

JEL classification: F42, P2, R11, L86.