An empirical comparative analysis of various issues of foreign trade among firms in South-East Asian countries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to conduct a comparative analysis of the various issues faced by firms involved in foreign trade in Brunei Darussalam and Singapore. It tries to delineate the issues or concerns in export and import trade that are significant, but of either same or different magnitudes in these countries. It also attempts to determine the concerns that are of lesser extent for both importers and exporters, and extent of usage of insurance against non-payment of export debts, and/or loss of goods in transit. Design/methodology/approach – Judgment and snowball sampling methods are employed to collect data from various companies in these countries. The results are analyzed from two samples of 42 and 25 responding firms of Brunei Darussalam, and Singapore, respectively. Descriptive statistics is used to present and analyze the data. Findings – The paper highlights the various important issues related to foreign trade by firms. The issues that are significant, but are of the same magnitudes in these countries along with the issues that are of different magnitudes are mentioned. Furthermore, concerns of lesser extent for both importers and exporters along with a comparative analysis of buying insurance by firms are also mentioned. Research limitations/implications – The results are basically from the various trading companies involved in foreign trade in Brunei Darussalam and Singapore. The sample size of firms from Singapore may be another limiting factor. Originality/value – This study fills the gap in the existing literature about current issues prevalent in these countries. Furthermore, some suggestions to reduce the concerns of foreign trade are also mentioned in the paper. The findings may be useful for financial institutions interested in providing better services to the firms.