Abstract
The present paper has been made a comparative analysis of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions and lockdown on their activity. At the same time has been analysed pre- and post-pandemic periods. Also, the paper provides opinions about the ways how to mitigate and avoid impact on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) caused by pandemics, which might reoccur in the future. The importance of SMEs in the world and Georgian economy has been estimated in terms of added value, GDP, turnover, manufacturing products, and working place formation. It has been concluded that SMEs can handle some minor and short-term issues by themselves with the elaboration of the business continuity plan and crisis management scenarios, but these still are needed the active involvement of state aid. The latter implies financial support and professional, informational, and technical support as well, such as state internet-platform available for SMEs for interactive coordination and communication between the parties and for rapid action from the state on those fields which has been damaged mostly.
Highlights
Amid the worsening economic crisis in the context of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the imposition of coercive restrictions, governments worldwide are taking unprecedented steps to support economic and business activity and preserve workplaces
It has been concluded that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can handle some minor and short-term issues by themselves with the elaboration of the business continuity plan and crisis management scenarios, but these still are needed the active involvement of state aid
SMEs are highly vulnerable to the adverse economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
Amid the worsening economic crisis in the context of the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the imposition of coercive restrictions, governments worldwide are taking unprecedented steps to support economic and business activity and preserve workplaces. The COVID-19 pandemic hit the world economy; the main subjects are small and medium-sized enterprises ( on SMEs) and not corporations. The SMEs account for 90% of the total number of companies worldwide, provide 70% of jobs and generate 50% of world GDP. The importance of SMEs in the global economy is highly recognised, as evidenced by the UN General Assembly Resolution of 2017, which declared June 27 as Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises Day to raise public awareness of the contribution of SMEs to global economics [2]. The UN pointed out that SMEs may be very resilient to changes in the world, this makes them highly vulnerable to adverse economic impacts, primarily due to insufficient financial sustainability [3]
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