Abstract
[Salem, Afaf]. [Export Barriers and their Role in Reducing the Export Capability of Libyan Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises], [Ph. D Thesis, Ankara, [2019]. There are several risks and challenges that face any given company in a domestic market when taking the decision to expand the operations internationally. The process of expanding the operations is known as internationalization, while the obstacles that hinder the access to foreign markets are known as export barriers. The main aim of this study is to identify the export barriers that are facing Libyan SMEs and exporters in order to understand their challenges during the internationalization process. A questionnaire was designed based on the export barriers and internationalization models reviewed from the literature. The designed questionnaire was distributed on the two hundred fifty-nine exporting companies registered with the exportation and importation authority of Libya. One-hundred and twenty-one questionnaire were qualified, achieving a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.956. The results of the study show that there are nineteen export barriers that impose significant difference in annual sales volumes and annual exportation volumes for the Libyan SMEs. Moreover, seventeen export barriers showed significant differences between the Libyan companies at the different internationalization stages. The top three barriers are ranked according to their importance to the companies at each internationalization stage. the final results show that the most important export barriers facing Libyan SMEs are related to domestic government support, foreign currency instability and meeting international quality standards. Keywords Internationalization, Export barriers, Libya, SMEs