The primary geographical focus of this inquiry has been on the relationship of Australian small and medium sized enterprises with the trading opportunities offered by the 16 countries or groups of countries Australia has free trade agreements with at the time of publication, also the four FTAs concluded but not yet in force, the eight FTAs under negotiation and a prospective FTA negotiation with the United Kingdom.

These partner countries include close neighbours such as New Zealand and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), those across the Pacific such as the United States of America and Chile and more recently FTAs with north Asian countries of China, Japan and Korea.