For small or large companies, U.S. government assistance cannot substitute for good planning, careful product and service selection, and, most important, commitment of the resources necessary to go into Asia. U.S. government assistance can only help U.S. firms who are doing their best to help themselves. U.S. infrastructure firms are seeing subsidized foreign competition, especially in the form of up-front financing of project feasibility studies. This type of foreign government subsidy gives foreign competitors a significant advantage in subsequent phases of the project, that is, project design, construction, and equipment sales. For Larger Companies Market entry for larger companies is best done by acquiring local firms.
Acquisitions provide an instant backlog of projects and a client base.
Focusing on growing an existing backlog is much more likely to succeed than investing in start-up operations and beginning from scratch. For larger companies making acquisitions, a majority control over a smaller Asian company is better than minority control over a larger company. More control translates into higher priority for your company's products and services. For larger companies, the ability to take an equity position and help bring project financing is no longer just a good idea but required to compete with European and Japanese firms. Resist the temptation to be an opportunistic generalist.