KATHMANDU: A research conducted by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Supplies (MoICS) has found that over 75 percent of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been folded up due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report prepared by the MoICS on the impact of COVID-19 on the SMEs, said that 54 percent of such enterprises suffered a slump in production by 50 percent, 32 percent of enterprises endured up to 75 percent of the drop while 23.52 percent of such firms experienced a decline in production by 75 percent.
The SMEs related to hydropower projects, handicrafts, readymade garments, painting companies, jewelry, brass and bronze utensils manufacturing factories among others were included for the research, according to the Ministry.
A total of 17 small-scale enterprises were chosen as a sample for the research, four were middle-scale enterprises while eight were large-scale industries.
On a percentage, 22 percent of enterprises were large-scale industries, 46 percent were cottage industries, 11 percent middle-scale, and 21 percent small-scale.
Similarly, the research has shown that of all the cottage industries chosen for the research, 82.35 percent have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, 73.47 percent of them faced difficulties in accessing raw materials and 88.24 percent of enterprises could not do their marketing.
Likewise, among the small-scale enterprises, 87.5 percent of enterprises were adversely impacted while 75 percent experience difficulties in availing raw materials and 24 percent of such enterprises could not do their marketing.
Fifty percent of the middle-scale enterprises had difficulty in availing raw materials. As the majority of the SMEs and large-scale industries were chosen for research were found to be bearing loss in business, only 16.22 of them were on profit.
Likewise, among those enterprises making a profit during the COVID-19 pandemic, 66.67 percent were large-scale industries.
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