For some time now small businesses have been encouraged to look outside Europe for markets for their goods and services.
Indeed research by UPS found that UK SMEs have been outperforming those in Europe in developing their exports beyond the EU and increasing their turnover.
While the bulk of UK exports are still to the EU, 54% of UK SMEs had exported to other English speaking countries, such as the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
One could argue that SMEs should be looking even further afield. But how realistic is all this as a recipe for recovery and growth?
Export growth?
Markets across the world are increasingly jittery. There is doubt about whether the Bank of England will now raise interest rates this side of the forthcoming election for fear of destabilising UK recovery.
The 2008 Great Recession was a massive shock to the global economic system and the fear that it caused is nowhere near abated. There is even talk of another major financial meltdown looming in the next couple of years.
The IMF has been sending out dire warnings about global growth for 2015 because of the Eurozone’s ongoing failure to recover.
It is becoming ever clearer that the global financial system is now so interconnected that what happens in one part of the world has an impact on economies, wherever they are on the planet.
What price increasing exports in this atmosphere?