The Business Center Corporation (BCC) SME Crisis Response and Recovery Series came as a solution and avenue of support to the multitudes of SMEs that faced the brunt of the economic shock of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

The MSME National Dialogue Series was led by BCC with support from UNDP Maldives with the aim of supporting Maldivian small and medium sized enterprises to respond to and recover from the impacts of the Covid-19 crisis. For BCC, this was a platform for them to deliver timely and actionable guidance to Maldivian SMEs. This ranged from information on the different measures & pathways of help they could access, to the various sources of support that were made available for businesses in the face of the Covid-19 crisis.

With the aim of building capacity of SMEs in assessing their business risk and vulnerability to Covid-19, business continuity planning and internal strategies to cope and external sources of support was provided with a special tool introduced for SMEs to use.

Another important aspect of the MSME National Dialogue Series was to establish a direct and open discussion opportunity, to exchange firsthand accounts of how the Covid-19 crisis was impacting Maldivian SMEs. This would, in turn, aid in informing policy and programmatic responses of the government and other actors.

The Series saw a wide range of speakers from across government and private sector experts from different fields, as well as entrepreneurs who were invited to share their experiences navigating the ever changing landscape of an economy and world facing a pandemic.

The Series included 5 sessions which were streamed live on Facebook, and saw an estimated 47 thousand people tuning in to watch and engage in discussions and seek help. 

1) Intelligence & Business Continuity Planning

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2) Reducing Fixed Operating Costs to Protect Solvency

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3) Pursuing Appropriate Financing Strategy

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4) Maintaining Supply Distribution Channels and Market Access

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5) Transforming Business for New and Future Markets

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