Mach 25: Wednesday (March 24) marked one year since the government imposed a nationwide lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus infection in 2020. The months-long lockdown to curb coronavirus has hit small and medium enterprises (SMEs) the most. According to stakeholders, SMEs are more vulnerable to lockdown than other businesses. They suggest that SMEs don't have an extra income source to support their enterprises.
Even though there is no lockdown now, entrepreneurs involved in SMEs inform that they are still affected. Business activity in the market has been growing, but it still has not made any positive impact on the overall business.

Naresh Katuwal, president of the Nepal National Federation of Entrepreneurs, an organization of small and medium entrepreneurs, said that small and medium entrepreneurs were the worst hit due to the lockdown. He informed that even after the lockdown goods that the traders were trying to import were stuck at checkpoints for a long duration and that has affected their sales. This caused a huge loss to the traders.
Meanwhile, consumption has also declined due to the decline in consumers’ income due to the lockdown. Trade has not improved so far. According to Katuwal, about 5 percent of small and medium entrepreneurs have fled due to the lockdown while most of the entrepreneurs involved have changed their profession.
"Only those who could trade in cash after the lockdown are able to continue the business. There is no business left now, which has led to the exodus of small entrepreneurs," he said.

According to the association, about 40 percent of the shutters used for commercial purposes in the Kathmandu Valley were empty during the lockdown. New entrepreneurs have come to the stalls, but traders say the business climate has not improved.
Similarly, the condition of productive sector has not improved much. The condition of poultry, dairy, handicraft, carpet, and other industries is also not improving. The impact of the lockdown is felt by the poultry industry, which was in loss of around Rs 220 million daily. Due to the lockdown and restriction, there was no import of breeding chicken, and now the production of chickens has decreased, and the price of raw material used for making chicken feed has increased.
The production of chicken has decreased by 40 percent, while the production of chicken feed has also decreased subsequently.
According to Dinesh Raj Mishra, general secretary of the Federation of Nepali Poultry Entrepreneurs, 80 percent of the farmers involved in broiler chicken production and about 20 percent in layer chicken production have had to switch their business due to the lockdown. He said that even if new farmers are involved now, it will take a few more years for the sector to pick up pace.
Under normal circumstances, milk producers receive payment within three weeks of sales, but due to the impact of the lockdown and restrictions, the industrialists have not been able to pay the farmers for months.
Handicraft manufacturers and carpet manufacturers informed that there is a problem in exporting goods as they have to pay three times more for shipping their products.
According to the Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industries, there are around 3 million small and medium entrepreneurs in Nepal, out of which 1.6 million are registered entrepreneurs. The sector contributes 22 percent to the country's GDP and provides direct employment to more than 1.7 million people.