Foreign direct investment (FDI) brings valuable benefits to developing countries which are not easily available through other means. These include not only the capital itself, but also the transfer of technological know-how and often associated intellectual property rights, managerial capacity, knowledge of export markets and marketing skills. There are clear linkages with improved export capacities and opportunities, particular valuable as international markets are opened through world trade liberalisation.

The purpose of this paper is to identify significant features of a range of Australian federal and state government programmes and incentives targeting general small-to-medium-sized enterprises and promoting business entrepreneurship among Indigenous Australians as well as businesses in remote locations.

Although governments in Canada have recently advocated both privatisation and tax reductions for individuals and corporations, they are still very involved in subsidising income-generating activity by private enterprises and special groups on a selective basis that may reflect geographical location, various socio-economic and demographic characteristics (including ‘minority’ or Aboriginal status), and the industrial classification of the activity. The efforts of governments at all levels take many forms beyond the traditional ones associated with general reductions in tax rates and modified capital allowances or grants, direct government investment and shared commitments, guaranteed access to markets or industry-wide collaboration over product standards and external trade initiatives. ‘We're there to boost productivity and growth’, asserts the annual report for the year 2000 of the Business Development Bank of Canada.

During the period of economic reform in New Zealand in the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s, provision of government support and incentives for business played little role in government policy. Emphasis was placed on creating a ‘level playing field’ in the belief that this would provide the best framework to encourage the development of businesses that would represent the best use of the country's resources. Subsidies and tax incentives were largely eliminated from the government's policy portfolio.

The purpose of this report is to identify the variety of government programmes and incentives available to small businesses and minority groups in the United Kingdom. The importance of these programmes is underlined by the fact that in 1996 small enterprises were responsible for 46 per cent of employment in the UK, and this has fallen gradually to 36 per cent in 2001. The level of support given to ethnic minorities is also important given that according to Bank of England estimates (2000), ethnic minorities own 7 per cent of the total UK business stock.