67% of Small and Medium Enterprises in Gyeonggi-do Say "Business Environment Has Worsened Since COVID-19"

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The business conditions of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Gyeonggi Province have deteriorated drastically since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Institute of Science and Technology Promotion announced on the 14th the results of the "Survey on the Status of Companies Due to the Impact of COVID-19," conducted from April 20 to May 18, targeting 700 SMEs in the province focused on manufacturing and knowledge-based services.

According to the results, 67.5% of companies responded that their business conditions worsened after COVID-19. The main difficulties faced by companies were sales decline (47.2%), increased costs (14.6%), production delays (14.0%), reduced business opportunities (12.4%), and decreased exports (6.5%).

In the past month, the surveyed companies reported a 22.7% decrease in sales, a 23.6% decrease in operating profit, a 27.7% decrease in export volume, a 6.4% decrease in research and development investment, and a 0.8% decrease in employment compared to the same period last year.

The outlook for the next six months was also bleak.

Sales are expected to decrease by 17.1%, operating profit by 17.7%, export volume by 22.0%, research and development investment by 5.3%, and employment by 0.5%.

80.8% of the responding companies said they have no plans to hire personnel in the first half of this year. Additionally, 63.2% responded that they plan to maintain their current workforce to overcome difficulties caused by COVID-19.

As countermeasures against COVID-19, companies cited utilizing public and private funds (43.1%), developing new sales channels (14.8%), and developing new products and services (6.1%). However, 30.6% said they have no countermeasures.

To overcome the management difficulties of SMEs caused by COVID-19, respondents indicated the need for financial support (63.5%), tax support (24.9%), and support for global value chains and research and development (7%).

A representative from the Gyeonggi Institute of Science and Technology Promotion emphasized, "Considering the results of this survey, it is necessary to strengthen marketing support, technology development, and service development support projects that can lead to actual sales for companies in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.