SOCIO-ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK FOR TRADE INTERNATIONALIZATION ON THE SERBIAN MARKET

One of the current trends, in developed market-economy countries and ours alike, is the internationalization of trade. The difference is found only in the achieved level of the international expansion of trade companies. However, we can certainly regard trade as the activity followed by the epithet "international". The process of internationalization is inherent in large trade chains, which in this manner find new market areas and new sources of profit generating. For trading companies, the internationalization represents a strategy of business growth and development. However, gaining access to a particular market implies knowledge of the framework or factors that have a huge impact on the choice of a particular market. First of all, it is the effect of economic, political, demographic, socio-cultural and institutional factors. The aim of this paper is to highlight all relevant assumptions, that is, factors that influence the selection of target markets by the international trade chains. The starting hypothesis is that the Serbian market has recently become very attractive to certain international trade chains, which has added significance to the analysis of the framework or factors for the application of internationalization strategies. A separate part of the paper spotlights the comparative experience of Romania and Bulgaria in the implementation of the strategy of trade internationalization, from which Serbia can draw useful lessons.