Asia Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Monitor 2021 Volume IV: How Asia’s Small Businesses Survived A Year into the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey Evidence

By Asian Development Bank

The Asia Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Monitor (ASM) is a knowledge-sharing product developed as a key resource for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) development policies in Asia and the Pacific. This second volume examines how Asia's MSMEs survived over a year into the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and discusses post-pandemic policy actions for MSME development. This study is based on the findings from MSME surveys during 2020 and 2021 in Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Philippines, and Thailand.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Asian Development Bank
• Release date: Apr 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9789292694876

Book preview

ASIA SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISE MONITOR 2021

VOLUME II—HOW ASIA’S SMALL BUSINESSES SURVIVED A YEAR INTO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: SURVEY EVIDENCE

APRIL 2022

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO)

© 2022 Asian Development Bank

6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City, 1550 Metro Manila, Philippines

Tel [phone]; Fax [phone]

www.adb.org

Some rights reserved. Published in 2022.

ISBN 978-92-9269-486-9 (print); 978-92-9269-487-6 (electronic); 978-92-9269-488-3 (ebook)

Publication Stock No. TCS220169-2

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22617/TCS220169-2

The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent.

ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by ADB in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.

By making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area, or by using the term country in this document, ADB does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.

This work is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO license (CC BY 3.0 IGO) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/. By using the content of this publication, you agree to be bound by the terms of this license. For attribution, translations, adaptations, and permissions, please read the provisions and terms of use at https://www.adb.org/terms-use#openaccess.

This CC license does not apply to non-ADB copyright materials in this publication. If the material is attributed to another source, please contact the copyright owner or publisher of that source for permission to reproduce it. ADB cannot be held liable for any claims that arise as a result of your use of the material.

Please contact [e-mail] if you have questions or comments with respect to content, or if you wish to obtain copyright permission for your intended use that does not fall within these terms, or for permission to use the ADB logo.

Corrigenda to ADB publications may be found at http://www.adb.org/publications/corrigenda.

Note:

In this publication, B refers to baht, KN to kip, and $ refers to United States dollars.

Cover design by Claudette Rodrigo.

Contents

Tables, Figures, and Box

Foreword

Throughout the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, governments, businesses, and people across Asia and the Pacific struggled to adjust to an ever-evolving new normal. Most countries took swift steps to contain the spread of infections through lockdowns, restrictions on mobility, social distancing and, once available, by establishing vaccine rollout programs. As the pandemic intensified, governments created comprehensive support packages for individuals, households, and businesses to minimize the effects of the restrictions on livelihoods and the availability of goods and services. These efforts set the stage for economic recovery. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates that developing Asia rebounded from a 0.8% contraction in 2020 to 6.9% growth in 2021, and forecasts 5.2% growth in 2022. However, since early 2021, the appearance of variants—such as Delta and Omicron—created risk that new outbreaks would slow progress. Many countries have now started thinking of ways of living with a more endemic COVID-19.