ABSTRACT : Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in the Indonesian economy in terms of labor absorption and their contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, their export performance is low. SMEs’ low export performance is caused by a variety of variables, including export market focus and government policies. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the relationship between export market orientation and SME export performance and the role of government policies as a moderation of these two variables. To achieve this purpose, data was gathered from 45 Malang Regency SMEs that have engaged in exports. The data was collected online and then analyzed using Warp Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (WarpPLS-SEM). The research results demonstrate that export market orientation is not significantly related to SME export performance. Government measures, on the other hand, considerably improve the relationship between export market orientation and SME export performance. This finding implies that the government should implement effective policies to enhance the export performance of SMEs to increase SME income and the country’s foreign exchange earnings.

KEYWORDS – Market orientation, Export performance, SME, Government’s policy