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.

This volume provides data and analysis on micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Central and West Asia to help policymakers support the development of these businesses. The development of MSMEs remains key to promoting inclusive growth in developing economies in Asia and the Pacific. The Asia Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Monitor (ASM) serves as a resource for evidence-based policy design on MSME development. The ASM 2022 focuses on Central and West Asia. This volume reviews the financial and nonfinancial conditions of MSMEs at country and regional level. It highlights the need for increased lending to MSMEs with better loan assets, enhanced job creation, expanded foreign trade of MSMEs, strengthened digital infrastructure, and greater MSME productivity.

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. The ASM 2021 Volume IV reports on a technical exercise for developing an empirically rigorous index that measures various dimensions affecting MSME development in developing Asia.

This thematic chapter shows how the Russian invasion of Ukraine and related sanctions are affecting micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Central and West Asia and suggests policy responses to mitigate the impact. It draws on the results of business surveys in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan carried out six months after the start of the invasion. It assesses the invasion’s macroeconomic impact, outlines its effect on global supply chains, and explores MSME responses. Highlighting how countries are converting risks into opportunities, it notes that strengthening domestic commodity markets and increasing digitalization and available capital could help make MSMEs more resilient.

“Southeast Asian Affairs, first published in 1974, continues today to be required reading for not only scholars but the general public interested in in-depth analysis of critical cultural, economic and political issues in Southeast Asia. In this annual review of the region, renowned academics provide comprehensive and stimulating commentary that furthers understanding of not only the region’s dynamism but also of its tensions and conflicts. It is a must read.” – Suchit Bunbongkarn, Emeritus Professor, Chulalongkorn University “Now in its fiftieth edition, Southeast Asian Affairs offers an indispensable guide to this fascinating region. Lively, analytical, authoritative, and accessible, there is nothing comparable in quality or range to this series. It is a must read for academics, government officials, the business community, the media, and anybody with an interest in contemporary Southeast Asia. Drawing on its unparalleled network of researchers and commentators, ISEAS is to be congratulated for producing this major contribution to our understanding of this diverse and fast-changing region, to a consistently high standard and in a timely manner.” – Hal Hill, H.W. Arndt Professor Emeritus of Southeast Asian Economies, Australian National University

This volume examines the experiences of Asia's micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) during the first year of the pandemic and discusses post-pandemic policy actions for MSME development. The study draws on the findings of MSME surveys carried out during 2020 and 2021 in Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the Philippines, and Thailand. It offers insights on approaches that could best support a pandemic exit strategy and policies that could help revitalize the MSME sector during recovery in a way that creates more resilient economies.

This report shares ADB's work on designing an empirically rigorous Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development Index to measure finance and nonfinance dimensions of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) development. This final volume of the Asia Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Monitor 2020 sets out ADB's work so far on the index to help guide support for MSME development. The index aims to capture the structural problems MSMEs face and to measure MSME development and access to finance using multivariate analysis of national MSME data. This note includes the results of index testing using data from Southeast Asia. It does not intend to present a complete index at this stage, but rather raises issues on feasible design of the index through the pilot exercise.

This volume focuses on the digitalization of microfinance in Bangladesh to help make finance more affordable for small businesses, and finds it to be a promising avenue for further exploration. Micro, small, and medium-sized businesses provide much of the income in rural Bangladesh, but their growth is constrained by limited access to affordable finance. This volume reports on a 2021 baseline study carried out in Bangladesh to pilot a randomized controlled trial to determine whether a digitalized group-based credit scheme could be introduced at an affordable price. The findings provide justification for further study on the digitalization of microfinance.