Social-psychological Economic Impact of Covid-19 on SME’S in Kelantan: A Review

Abstract

The people, the businessmen, students, and the economy of Malaysia are all affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The evolution of this disease has significantly impact the social well- being, both psychological and physiological health, and economic condition of the people and the country. This study aims to determine the impact of Covid-19 has on the small and medium enterprises in Kelantan. Kelantan economic is well known of being driven by the SMEs. Nonetheless, less has been studied on Covid-19 impact on SMEs in Kelantan. Most studies focus on present impact of Covid-19 on employees and SMEs in general without in-depth analysis of cultural and social elements (The Star 2020). On the other hand, the Economic Stimulus Package (PRE) announced by the YAB Prime Minister on 27 March 2020 and 6 April 2020 has certainly motivated the people and SMEs at large, however, the question is—how long this stimulus programme can help SMEs to sustain? Based on the SME Annual Report 2017/2018, the number of SMEs in Kelantan is 46,618 which is considering high as compared in other states. Therefore, this study will focus on SMEs in Kelantan and addressing the cultural, sociological, health and economic impact. The study will be further significant as the culture of Kelantan, consumer behaviour, and local surroundings differ from the other states in Malaysia; and secondly, it will allow researchers to distinguish post-Covid-19 intervention programmes. Thus, the psychological aspect of SMEs and consumerism behaviour coupled with social and economic impacts are important elements to be investigated in the context of Kelantan during Covid-19 condition. In sum, the study will identify the impact variables of Covid-19 has on the present social aspect (which covers consumerism behaviour and cultural behaviour), psychological and physiological health aspect, and economic values aspect among SMEs in Kelantan, during Covid-19.