Resurgence of MSMEs in developing economies during the COVID-19 fog

Abstract

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has acutely affected trade, investment, growth and employment around the world and has instigated a global economic slowdown. Estimates of labor income losses (before taking into account income support measures) suggest a global decline of 10.7 per cent during the first three quarters of 2020 compared with the corresponding period in 2019, which amounts to US$3.5 trillion or 5.5 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP) for the first three quarters of 2019. Likewise, as with any crisis, the condition has become even worse in developing countries, where the stability or growth for start-ups and MSME’s has been significantly endangered. Every business or enterprises that drove to closure leads to multiple stories of unemployment, economic and social dislocation as well staggering uncertainty. It remains paramount that governments, in partnership with other public and private institutions, associations and bodies and various other stakeholders bestow their support to drive competitiveness of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME’s) with a particular focus on those small businesses in developing countries. In many countries, this interference has led to immediate and innovative approaches and models and also helped deploy resources and put up a timely and comprehensive response to the novel coronavirus disease. This study resorts to various MSME’s in developing countries confronting and combating the difficult time caused by COVID-19 pandemic which can help monitor the evolving business climate to design workable and enforceable policy support for MSME development.