Why study SMEs?
SMEs are important in many countries due to
their large number, the employment they provide and
growth opportunities, making them worthy of further
research (Moen 2000a). ~his'study aims to focus on
SMEs based on the following reasons: Firstly, more than
90% of iinns in most MEAN countries are SMEs (APEC
1998). In the Asian economies, SMEs contribute between
25-35% of world exports (OECD 2000; World
Investment Report 1999) and provide 35% of direct
exports (Acs 1999). Secondly, despite the crucial role of
SMEs to the country economy, there are only limited,
poor quality data on SMEs in Southeast Asian countries
(Bjerke 2000). Finally, in Thailand, SMEs account for
80% ofproducers and contribute 70% of all employment
(Bunyamanee 2000); they are therefore important to the
Thai economy..