Résumé

This paper suggests a tentative conceptual framework to study the internationalization of foreign/OECD - based SMEs (Small and Medium - sized Enterprises) attracted by fast growing emerging markets, such as China and Southeast Asia, and the supportive role of global cities as market gate focal points providing a wide range of financial and non - financial services facilitat ing emerging market entry. In other words, the hypothesis is that a number of global cities (about 75 cities are classified and ranked as such worldwide) play an important business intermediation role, including vis - à - vis distant and difficult regional eme rging markets. This proposed research is to bring up added value to the study of global cities, which has been envisaged so far exclusively in terms of their global growth as contributed by transnational corporations. The existing literature reveals that t he business intermediation role of global cities has been studied in terms of service s provided to transnational corporations and their affiliates, which tend to concentrate their regional offices and other business coordinating logistics and management in such cities. Th e proposed research suggests that a series of global cities should be also envi saged not necessarily in terms of direct presence and density of SME operations, but at least in terms of providing a wide range of supportive services enabling foreign/OECD - based SMEs to approach, test and penetrate new markets in neighbor emerging econom ies. The conceptual framework proposed in this paper has been tested i n East Asia in the case of Tokyo, and is curr ently leading to a new research project 2015 - 17 with a focus on Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.

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