International Trade as a Factor of Competitiveness: Comparison of Lithuanian and Bulgarian Cases
International Trade as a Factor of Competitiveness: Comparison of Lithuanian and Bulgarian Cases

Summary/Abstract: The globalization and integration processes significantly changed the business environment of the nation business entities. Because of the greater possibilities for access to new markets, resources and technologies business is now facing various challenges. One of the greatest challenges is the growing competition, which has already gone beyond the nation boundaries and lost its nation character. Under globalization the response to this challenge depends both on the qualities of the organization and (to a very large extent) on the macroeconomic efforts resulting from the state policy. In other words, the prosperity of every country depends on the performance of the domestic business entities and the success of the business entities depends on the regulations, policies and activities of the country. Newspapers, books, TV reports, government information or international organizations prepare comparisons of competitiveness, spread of participating in surveys countries, informs about the competitive struggle between countries for a bigger market of their products. For example, annual World Competitiveness Yearbook writes about most successful, i. e. competitive, 49 world countries, using 286 criteria. Countries can be characterized by different level of competitiveness in the global market: the countries with growing competitiveness (like Japan); leading countries, capable to maintain their high positions in the global market (like USA); countries which have lose their high competitiveness positions (as the United Kingdom); and countries with low level of competitiveness (as less developed countries). Countries compete in enlarging their international trade and getting bigger incomes, to attract productive investment and to build their nation production and increase their international competitive position and the main thing – to expand payment balance. Nowadays countries compete as direct competitors for international markets. Authorities in all countries continually work with the problems of international trade. They make decisions; create trade policies to achieve eligible results. Some authors understand nation competitiveness as firm’s competition, but others think differently.

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