Regional and global players What drives companies to invest abroad?

The company went public two years later and is today one of the best known companies in the world.

All in the Family

Local and national networks were an important aspect of the Compact, since they could make it easier for small and medium sized enterprises and their partners to become good corporate citizens.

Few people, public institutions or companies are fully prepared for the global information society.

Globalization and SMEs challenges and opportunities

We thank Pakistan for its security guarantee provided to Chinese enterprises and citizens in Pakistan.

And there we worked with leading CEOs on African issues, and African companies on turnarounds, making the companies not just the best in Africa but the best globally.

Internationalization through outward investment by developing country firms 5

MILAN Digital technologies are once again transforming global value chains and, with them, the structure of the global economy. What do businesses, citizens, and policymakers need to know as they scramble to keep up?

Dialogue between governments, business and non governmental organizations will help promote fair globalization.

Second wave firms include both SMEs and large companies, and both can take advantage of the plethora of interfirm arrangements found in the global economy (UNCTAD 2000 xv).

I. GLOBALIZATION AND THE CHANGING NATURE OF ENTERPRISES AND COMPETITION

UNCTAD's work on enterprise internationalization, as well as on clusters and global value chains, was particularly relevant to the integration of African companies into the global economy, while work on technical assistance and capacity building supported the development of African entrepreneurship.

(f) The Global Compact a voluntary corporate citizenship initiative of the United Nations Secretary General that brings together companies, labour, United Nations agencies and civil society to support 10 principles derived from key international instruments including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Indian firms, including SMEs, also faced competition from abroad as a result of globalization.

3. At the core of this vision of the globalized economy is the enterprise whether micro, small, medium or large in scale.

The main concern of the EDB was and still is to attract foreign (preferably global) firms to invest in Singapore.

I. Globalization and the changing nature of enterprises and competition 3 7

National Governments, Global Citizens

Six of the worlds' top 10 grocery retailers are from the United States, and four of these do not operate outside home territory.

Today internationalization appears to be driven much more directly by firm to firm contracting in a global setting, and it frequently involves SMEs initially being drawn into global business through contractual linkages with larger TNCs.

Indeed, they were the firms that globalized their industries steel and cement and, while starting out as SMEs, grew very large very quickly and thus assumed early on the characteristics of a global corporation, thinking and acting globally as they internationalized.

To strengthen the position of SMEs in global value chains, joint action by governments, chain governing key firms, SMEs and multilateral organizations is therefore required.

Globalization may reinforce traditional relations of dominance between firms.

All these applications enable companies to participate more effectively in the local, national and global economy.

And it was a speaking event in front of groups of entrepreneurs from around the world.

At the sub national level the actors are individual nuclear industry businesses, and the amount of information available regarding the commitment to the global public good becomes more restricted.

Empirical evidence shows that many firms, after expanding their participation in global markets, are worse off than before.

UNCTAD was encouraged to explore ways of integrating the production of transnational corporations and global supplier networks, which could be an effective way for SMEs in developing countries to join the global economy.

First among these challenges is that, as major global firms speed up the process of innovation in processes and products so as to maintain, and eventually expand, their technological lead vis à vis newcomers, the latter, particularly those in developing countries, are under pressure to keep up and accelerate the process of technological absorption and innovation, whether through in house capabilities or through the establishment of appropriate inter firm linkages.

Enterprises that are to engage in rationed sale of guns for civilian use shall be determined by the public security organ of a people's government at the provincial level.

Enterprise partnerships involving both local and foreign firms can help African enterprises achieve competitiveness in regional and global markets.

Also during the year, the Global Compact stepped up its efforts with respect to engaging the financial markets.

Section II Telecommunications and the globalization of international trade A vital role for SMEs

Integrating global value chains and linking up with TNCs can be important means for domestic companies, and in particular SMEs, to gain access to certain critical resources such as finance, technology and managerial skills.

In terms of specific issue areas, the Global Compact Office on 28 April launched two related publications Enabling Economies of Peace Public Policy for Conflict Sensitive Business, published by the Global Compact, and Conflict Sensitive Business Practice Guidance for Extractive Industries, published by the NGO International Alert.

As described above, according to the GEM model, policies need to evolve in accordance with an economy or region's stage of development.

Tthe web site www.shopmicro.org, which is selling products made by microfinance clients, and the Additionally, more than 30 countries are participating in the Global Micro entrepreneurship Awards programme, which organizes contests to identify and honour low income entrepreneurs.

428. Most workplaces in the country are in the public sector or in publicly owned enterprises.

It had therefore become of the utmost importance to understand under what conditions developing countries' firms could successfully participate in the internationalization process, including through integrated production networks, TNC SME linkages, global value chains and outward investment from developing country firms.

Public enterprise restructuring

It was suggested that UNCTAD should examine policy issues and develop programmes on involving SMEs in global value chains, improving their access to capital, and facilitating TNC SMEs linkages.

In other words, SMEs from Singapore remain interested in regional markets rather than global markets.

Firms need to construct global innovation networks to coordinate the dispersed and disintegrated innovation value chain.