PETALING JAYA: Although they agree that another extension of the movement control order (MCO) is necessary to keep everyone safe, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) caution that efforts to revive the economy should start now.
With the third phase of the movement control order (MCO) ending in less than a week, many companies, especially micro-SMEs that are struggling or in the red, hope more sectors will be allowed to operate conditionally if an extension takes place.Malaysia Retail Chain Association president Datuk Seri Garry Chua is expecting another two weeks of MCO to allow the detection of new Covid-19 clusters and for the number of positive cases to go down further.But he said a “soft-landing” approach was needed as “many businesses, regardless of scale, are dying”.“I believe restaurants and some in the retail sector will be permitted to operate, but at half capacity and strict compliance with social distancing to ensure public safety.
“The government will need to move quickly with this while taking precautions,” he said, adding that they must also understand each industry’s needs, complications and peculiarities properly before making any decision.
He said post-MCO life was the most critical thing to consider and called for a fast and solid plan to let companies recover quickly.
“A real action plan to stimulate the economy is needed,” Chua said, adding that what was dished out in the government stimulus packages previously was just relief.
The government, he said, should have taken bolder measures such as compelling government-linked companies that made billions last year to aid them in helping the people and other businesses.
Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (Acccim) president Tan Sri Ter Leong Yap said almost half of 916 companies had indicated in a survey conducted by its think tank, the Socio-Economic Research Centre, that they needed more than six months to recover.
“Almost 90% of businesses expect a post-MCO environment with conditions remaining in place pertaining to social distancing, wearing of masks, sanitisation and other measures critical to keeping the public safe,” he said.
“A total of 83.9% businesses agreed to have a standard operating procedure (SOP) in protecting workers’ and customers’ health, and 76.2% are prepared to comply with the SOP despite some SMEs and micro-SMEs having low preparation.”Ter also called on the government to act on an economic revival plan to turn around the economy, as well as to help businesses restart.
This, he said, included short-, medium- and long-term measures beginning with the tabling of Budget 2021 in October.
Acccim SMEs committee chairman Koong Lin Loong weighed in, saying the government “cannot have both feet on the pandemic” as the economy was equally crucial.
If the MCO ends on April 28, he said he anticipated a conditional lift with certain rules in place.
“The MCO cannot be lifted in full force straight away. Malaysians will not be able to go back to the way we used to be for the next two years, even with zero positive cases later,” he said, adding that this downtime could be a turnaround for businesses to adapt to new norms to stay afloat.
Koong said the pandemic had provided a window for businesses to size down and improve their competency and productivity by cutting reliance on foreign workers.
“As for the government, they should review their policies and re-engineer the economy in such a way that local consumption is strengthened by better-skilled workers, besides having more public-private partnerships,” he added.SME Association of Malaysia president Datuk Michael Kang concurred, saying the pandemic was both a crisis and an opportunity for businesses to improvise and diversify.“Businesses need to find their strength and embrace change in their model, for instance by going online and managing their operation using a cloud platform and blockchain technology,” he said.
Kang noted that the government’s announcements of two-week MCO and its extension by stages had left many businesses in the lurch, especially in the planning of contingency measures or an exit strategy.
He also called on the government to emulate Singapore and introduce an ad hoc Covid-19 Act to create a standalone dispute resolution mechanism that superseded all prior laws.
Source : https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/04/23/smes-efforts-to-revive-economy-must-start-now#cxrecs_s