Image credit: Malaysia SME
PETALING JAYA: The public and private sectors have been urged to put effort into digitalising small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with the focus on high-growth sectors, as digitalisation will be a game changer in Budget 2023, the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (NCCIM) says.
Its treasurer-general Datuk Dr A. T. Kumararajah said the digital world had accelerated.
“Focus on the high-growth sectors and I think we will be home in 2023,” he said on Bernama TV’s programme The Brief yesterday.
He said the 6.9% growth in the first half of 2022 was primarily driven by the export market, specifically by the electrical and electronics sector.
“So, if we strengthen the SMEs and the value chain, including addressing the labour shortage, I think the government would have done fairly well in terms of (giving) approvals to bring in 400,000 foreign workers,” he said.
He said the problem in the economy today was the labour shortage and this had resulted in billions of ringgit in lost income in the first eight months of this year.
He said this must be mitigated but bringing in labour posed another problem because there are now environmental, social and governance initiatives to comply with and this imposed “higher pressure” on stakeholdes.
“So, in many ways, Budget 2023 will probably be anchored on areas where we have very strong fundamentals,” he added.
On the International Monetary Fund’s “gloomy outlook” for the global economy, he said this had already been factored in as early as April this year.
“It just got gloomier because of the protracted Russia-Ukraine war, coupled with the energy and food inflation – both in double digits – no country is actually recovering,” he said.
“The headwinds are there, but we are in a very strong position because of our internal domestic market,” he added.
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2022/09/08/budget-2023-digitalising-smes-big-game-changer