Impact of Regional Public Agencies on Firms' Internationalization Processes: Evidence from Case Studies

To achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the support for the internationalization of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME) for inclusive and sustainable growth needs improvement. Decided to accomplish these global goals, many regional governments have established regional public agencies aiming at increasing MSME competitiveness. In the area of internationalization, regional governments have created Regional Export Promotion Agencies (REPA), which are a type of Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) that has been implemented, for instance, in all Spanish regions. However, we found a gap in the literature since there is not enough evidence on the utility of the services provided by TPOs. Thus, the aim of this paper is to explore how a REPA interacts with firms when they internationalize and cooperates with the corresponding Regional Development Agency (RDA) during this process. The preliminary findings suggest that a better coordination between both Regional Agencies is required. In addition, further financial measures to support firms in the first stages of the internationalization processes as well as an improvement of communication activities to increase awareness of the services offered are demanded by the firms.