COVID-19, SME training support by ASEAN governments and analysis of digital investments in Brunei

Abstract

Digital adoption and related investments among SMEs can be challenging during COVID-19 smart business adjustments due to their small size and limited capabilities especially in ASEAN region where contribution of SMEs is over 99%. In order to overcome this barrier, it is necessary for every country's government to provide SMEs with the right support that can help them in their digital transformation journey. The negative impact of the pandemic phenomenon has been huge on adaption and employability of human resources and SME's technological innovation globally. The support of ASEAN governments in the context of human resources development dimension in digital space is reviewed in this article. Besides, digitalization of Brunei's SMEs has been lukewarm although the public of the country has been an active user of social media where the subscription rate of mobile usage is around 136% and internet usage around 94%. Therefore, in order to provide the evidence of explanatory theory on the digital technologies' adoption among SMEs in Brunei, this study has used both qualitative and quantities approaches, has collected data from 101 Brunei SMEs through survey questionnaire and analyzed it using partial least square with the help ADANCO. The study has found that the internal capacity of organization in the form of digital skills and external capacity in the form of digital infrastructure in the economy are statistically significant in explaining the importance of digital educational support provided by the government towards the adoption of digital technologies. The challenges faced by SMEs due to pandemic related restrictions in the form of decrease in sales, access to finance, budget constraints for employee salaries and wages, procurement and order delivery related difficulties, however, have not statistically necessitated the adoption of digital technologies because of policy incentives for digital technology related education and training facilitations. © 2022 Author(s).