The Pacific Alliance: An Opportunity of Internationalization for MSMEs

Abstract

The Pacific Alliance is a regional trade agreement (RTA) between Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. It is generally expected that the implementation of this RTA will provides benefits to all micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the forms of greater internationalization opportunities. However, there are concerns over the extent to which MSMEs have benefited from this commercial agreement. Thus, this chapter analyzes the internationalization process of 23 MSMEs from Colombia that exported to member countries of the Pacific Alliance. The authors, using case study methodology analyzed the internationalization process of these firms and aimed to identify their unique behavior. Results shows that the process began by the creation of networks, the identification of opportunities abroad, and the definition of the internationalization path for each firm. In general, the firms used the institutional resources available in the Pacific Alliance framework to achieve their internationalization strategies.