TITLE:
The Impact of Natural Disasters on Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in Bangladesh
AUTHORS:
Md. Benozer Ahmed Sharif
KEYWORDS:
SME, Coastal Region, Natural Disasters, Semi-Structured
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.8 No.6,
June
30,
2021
ABSTRACT: The direct and indirect impacts of natural disasters are devastating to business activities and their continuity. These catastrophic events have created a significant impact on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the Bangladesh during the recent years. SME sectors can be considered as the highly vulnerable sections of Bangladesh economy which impacted drastically by the flooding as they are relatively resource constrained and less resilient. Having a sound understanding of the adverse impacts of flooding on SMEs might useful for entrepreneurial resilience. This study sought to investigate the full range of impacts (short term and long term) experienced by SMEs located in coastal region of Bangladesh following floods, cyclone, river bank erosion, saline water intrusion and earthquake. Three hundred and fifty respondents selected affected SMEs from coastal region. Semi structured interviews were carried out in person with the business owners in order to identify their experiences on various types of damages, rehabilitation and re-establishment. One of the major finding was the SMEs are vulnerable to natural disasters.