FACTORS DETERMINING THE DEGREE OF THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN VIETNAM

ABSTRACT

Human lives all over the world had changed in unprecedented ways due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Vietnam, efforts to control said pandemic coupled with businesses’ efforts to change for their survival and preparation of post-pandemic recovery have brought certain achievements. This chapter examines how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam had been affected by the pandemic and what the factors that determined the degree of impact the pandemic had on SMEs were, and how SMEs had been supported by the Vietnamese government during the crisis. Based on data drawn from organizations’ business surveys, we discussed the pandemic’s impact on SMEs and its transmission channels. We also explored SMEs’ plight through reports and indexes from national statistics and through voices from victims. We then advanced the model to identify the factors that determined the degree of impact the pandemic had on SMEs. The chapter concludes that most SMEs in Vietnam suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic, four factors that determined the degree of impact the pandemic had on SMEs were A decrease in financial resources;a decrease in working hours and wages;a decrease in demand;lack of government support. This chapter also suggests that policies for supporting SMEs should be simple regarding their implementation. To achieve successful digital transformation, SMEs should be supported by the government in technical knowledge training and fundraising, as this was proven to have relieved the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for enterprises. © 2022 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.