Foreword It is indeed a great pleasure for me to welcome the publication entitled‘The Future of SMEs after the Corona Crisis: Challenges and Opportunities’ is going to be published containing two reports. The reports were presented in the international webinar on‘The Pandemic and SMEs: Shock-absorbing policy measure and future debates­Impacts in Bangladesh and Lessons from Responses around the World’. The program was organized jointly by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung(FES) Bangladesh and Small and Medium Enterprise(SME) Foundation, Bangladesh on 24 September 2020. The objective of the webinar was to engage national and international experts, entrepreneurs, researchers, policy makers, association leaders, civil society and so on in the novel coronavirus crisis to find out policy options, and finding way out to overcome the difficulty. The Covid-19 has been affecting most of the countries and caused deadly havoc in the world. The impact of the pandemic on the world economy has been a major blow including poverty, unemployment and economic shock since it first broke out in December 2019. With the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, Micro, Small and Medium enterprises (MSMEs) are in a particularly vulnerable position; this is a big concern for the developing countries like Bangladesh, since these enterprises are strategically important for the economic recovery in the country after the pandemic is over. In the above context this initiative is notable and praiseworthy. I would like to convey my sincere gratitude and heartfelt thanks to the Honorable Minister, Ministry of Industries for his gracious presence in the webinar and giving his valuable advice that helps a lot to publish this report.I am also extending my deep appreciation to Dr. Atiur Rahman, Professor, University of Dhaka& Former Governor, Bangladesh Bank and Mr. Michael Rössler, Vice-Chair, Craft-Industry International, Baden-Württemberg, Germany for contributing in the webinar and by providing their valuable write-ups. I am also thankful to the moderator of the program Professor Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam, Chairman, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission& to all Discussants and Participants from home and abroad for their participation andvaluable inputs& thoughts of the publication. We are also grateful to Ms. Tina Blohm, Country Representative of FES Bangladesh and her colleagues for their cordial supports to arrange the webinar and publication of this report as well. We believe, the publication will be useful to the policy­makers, practitioners, academician, researchers and development partners to Bangladesh for reviewing the programs in the ongoing Covid situations and design required action plan for the SME development in Bangladesh. I hope all the stakeholders will work together in promoting SMEs to overcome Covid-19 challenges in the upcoming days. Dr. Md. Ma zur Rahman Managing Director, SME Foundation 4 . Foreword