GCNP: What do you see as the biggest challenges of this pandemic, for your organisation and for SMEs in general?

RS: At this time of great uncertainty, we are all experiencing a challenge related to the strategy and the direction to take for the future. I will therefore leave you with some questions:

1. Should we invest resources (human and financial) in the opportunities that are here right now like PPE and masks or should we stand aside and maintain the previous course even with the market at a standstill right now and try to keep companies alive and ready to work when "everything calms down"?
2. How is our dependence on external markets when it comes to supply?
3. Are we creating the right synergies to leverage the right business opportunities?
4. Can we survive six months with the market almost at a standstill? Do we have funding lines adjusted to this need?

GCNP: What is your organisation doing specifically to respond to the new market challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic? Is there a greater focus on more sought after products in this pandemic phase or on new/different distribution channels?

RS: Since the beginning of the pandemic, and as a result of the Government’s and of several entities’ work in setting up systems and validating products for this purpose, we focused very quickly on developing, producing and supplying solutions for reusable social masks. At this moment, we are working continuously and at high speed for this market segment, which today is extremely volatile, but we believe it will evolve to a more stable state, until it becomes a product of our daily life and common habit.

GCNP: OWhat do you think should be done, namely by SMEs, for the economy to recover from this crisis and build a more resilient society?

RS: Thinking about the challenges that are ahead of us, specifically some of the examples that I mentioned earlier, each company should draw a strategic plan and its course on what it really wants to do in the near future. The previous situation doesn't exist anymore. It has changed and we don't know what the next equilibrium state will be. Therefore, we should be aware of possibilities to invest in future technologies without distorting the know-how acquired by SMEs. In short, SMEs must evolve technologically, understand what market segments and new opportunities are ahead of us for the next one, five and ten years.

GCNP: Do you think the world will stay the same after this pandemic?

RS: I believe not. We are living in a phase of fear. We are afraid of the personal approach. This phenomenon was caused in just three months, until it touched us personally. I believe it will take a long time (and possibly we will never be able to get this thought out of our minds) before we are no longer afraid of complete closeness. We will maintain different habits of life than before. Cultures will adapt to that. Consumer habits are changing dramatically. The Online and Digital World has suddenly grown even bigger than previously thought and it will not go back.