SWEDISH SOUTH ASIAN STUDIES NETWORK

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Appeal for research collaboration:

Proposal for a project on ”Enhancing SME Cluster Competitiveness in Asian Developing Countries: Learning from Global Experiences in Internationalisation.”

• This proposed study draws upon the idea of forming a small collective of serious scholars, primarily from European and Asian countries, all of whom have worked on small enterprise development issues in several developing and industrialised nations. The primary aim is to initiate an international research programme (as would be executed through a few detailed studies) focused on assessing small firm competitiveness in developing countries in Asia with a comparative perspective (i.e., comparing experiences of OECD countries, Latin America and other successful nations including Australia and New Zealand). This proposal needs to be modified based on substantive comments from concerned scholars. As a first step, I have already started exploring possibilities for such a collaborative research and have identified a few scholars from Europe.

This research would address broadly the field of promoting trade and innovation in small firm clusters in the developing country context, especially relevant to Asian developing countries, including India. This new and growing interaction with European and other scholars shall greatly help furthering research activities with active intellectual inputs from this virtual network of experts. Such a network shall be of immense value, as this will facilitate meaningful symbiosis of new international research proposals with a clear thrust on exchanging different country perspectives and actual experiences. While I look forward to furthering this networking effort to reach a sustainable stage, this is to explore possibilities of receiving financial support through the SASNET. If the idea interests you, I shall greatly appreciate your comments and suggestions to modify the proposal as also prepare a realistic budget for relevant activities, mainly holding workshops and starting a few studies.

Looking forward to receiving a favourable response.

Keshab Das, Associate Professor, Gujarat Institute of Development Research, Ahmedabad 380 060, India