COVID-19 has changed the way people work, and the way they live their lives. It has changed the way companies run their businesses, and the way they interact with their customers and employees. It has changed the way governments prioritize issues, and the way they address crises. Businesses, especially small firms, have been tremendously affected and are facing the possibility of having to exit the market permanently. Meanwhile, individuals have had to face job losses, retrenchments, and major disruptions in work arrangements on top of having to deal with personal and family health concerns.

Given this backdrop, this report seeks to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic crisis is changing the economic landscape in Asia and is shaping the future of doing business in the region. In particular, this paper first looks at secondary sources to analyze macroeconomic trends affecting business, particularly small and medium enterprises in Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam across five dimensions, namely 1) Agility, Innovation, and Resilience, 2) Future of Work, 3) Globalization, 4) Asia-Europe Relations, and 5) Institutions and Economic Regulations. It then proceeds to contextualize these trends and lend color to emerging themes by presenting on-the-ground insights and examples through interviews with SMEs, government representatives, and experts from the five selected countries.