ABSTRACT
Trade liberalization either in the context of AFTA, APEC or WTO and the substantially widened global market for various tradable goods and services have served to reinforce the view that enterprises of all sizes could play a crucial role in the export promotion and economic development objectives. As for large enterprises, trade liberalization nevertheless poses an enormous challenge for SMEs to respond to trade expansion opportunities. It implies that SMEs should integrate positively into the global economic system in terms of production, trade and investment, and there is the need for SMEs to be highly competitive in both domestic and global markets (Lisk, 1997).
