SMALL and medium enterprises (SMEs) should build their online presence as e-commerce is expected to become the normal way of doing business in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Smita Kuriakose, senior economist at the World Bank, said online business is the way forward and SMEs should prepare accordingly.

“I cannot emphasis enough on the need for re-skilling and digitising and getting more online presence because that is going to be the new normal going forward,” said Kuriakose.

Speaking in a webinar today organised by think-tank Research For Social Advancement (Refsa), she said online businesses operating out of China, the epicentre of the virus, have been better at weathering adverse economic conditions caused by the pandemic.

Kuriakose also said the government should look into policies that ensured the private sector could attract new markets and regain lost ones when the pandemic is over.

“There will be a lot required to actually make sure, especially in the case of SMEs, that they are able to remain in business and maintain market share and in some cases, look for new markets,” she said.

She said there would be supply chain disruptions during the health crisis which could lead to supply shocks.

SMEs would need help to recover from these disruptions post-pandemic, she said, and it would be helpful if the government gave SMEs access to export and domestic markets.

The recovery process will not be uniform across the sectors, added Kuriakose.

A sector that is likely to need a longer recuperative period is tourism, as people are not expected to travel immediately upon the lifting of travel restrictions. – April 10, 2020.