Overseas Expansion Support to Small and Medium Enterprises: The Case of Japan and Germany

중소기업 해외진출지원에 관한 연구: 일본과 독일의 지원정책사례를 중심으로

Purpose - This research analyzes overseas expansion support systems for small- and medium-sized enterprises in Germany and Japan. Germany and Japan have developed overseas expansion support policies for such enterprises. The study then explores the implications for Korea and its local governments. Research design, data, and methodology - We did a comparative analysis of Japan and Germany and their support for overseas expansion of small and medium companies. Data were mainly collected from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Japan) and the Germany Trade and Invest (Germany) agency through statistics and literature surveys, and analysis studies. Results - First, human resources cultivation and funding support policies, which both Germany and Japan use as part of small- and medium-sized enterprise policies, should be modified to Korean circumstances and to reflect its own small- and medium-sized enterprise support needs. Second, both the German policies that support overseas expansion of small- and medium-sized enterprises and those of Japan's include the philosophy and methods that put an emphasis on these enterprises, despite the fact that there are big differences in the overseas policies in these two countries. Third, German and Japanese governments are embracing the idea that small- and medium-sized enterprises are key to their national economies and implementing policies based on the ratio occupied by these enterprises in the domestic consumption or GDP. In other words, Germany and Japan consider small- and medium-sized enterprises as central to their nation's industry, and assess them as economic industry that should definitely exist for the continued survival of big businesses, and not just as merely supplemental to big business. Fourth, whereas Germany emphasizes support to product exhibition in its overseas expansion support policies, Japan is providing integrated support containing foreign direct investment to small- and medium-sized enterprises. Fifth, there are differences in the overseas expansion support in Germany and Japan in terms of their support to big business. Whereas Germany considers support to big business unnecessary, Japan is implementing active support policies to areas corresponding to big business. Korea will have to benchmark the policies of Germany and Japan, and decide whether or not to give full support to small- and medium-sized enterprises, while excluding areas supporting big business. Conclusions - Based on this analysis of German and Japanese overseas expansion support policies, we need to choose the policies that will engender a solid outcome and derive modified policies for the circumstances of Korea. Additionally, we can use the comparison of the overseas support policies of Japan and Germany to choose small- and medium-sized enterprise overseas expansion support policies for Korea. However, we cannot provide specific overseas support policies by industry. This point will be referenced as a limitation of this study. In future research, we expect that some researchers will take an empirical approach to exploring Korean overseas expansion support through collecting cases of overseas support policies and interviewing policy authorities.