Geospatial approach for MSMEs Business Continuity Plan in post pandemic era in Malaysia

Abstract

Malaysia's Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 Strategic Thrust 1 stated that the business and industry ecosystem to be strengthened and expected to contribute almost 50% of the country's GDP. This agenda is indeed in line with Goal 11 of UN-SDG that aims to develop sustainable and resilient cities and communities by 2030. However, due to the result of the global pandemic in 2020, many micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), particularly tourism-services oriented, were heavily affected and, unfortunately, the last to recover. The industry suffered a significant decline in revenue due to halting of operations, travel bans, and lockdowns resulting in delays to the continuity plan of business operations. As a result, there was a reduction in workforce and some of MSMEs were forced to cease their operations. Based on questionnaire-guided interviews of 53 respondents, this paper firstly will deliberate extensive review of the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on MSMEs in East Malaysia state of Sabah, particularly in tourism-centric regions of Kundasang and Kota Belud areas. Secondly, the explanation of smart GIS solutions through network analyses, in helping MSMEs rejuvenate their business operations as soon as possible during and after the disaster events. The results from GIS Network Analysis for disaster event simulation and outputs show that each case study region reflected differently according to different disaster types and intensities. From the outputs, the study proposed an integrated framework consisting of MSMEs' capital of economic, social, and environmental problem-solving phase, together with an operational framework of Disaster-Business Continuity Plan (DBCP).