Image credit: 12Go Asia
KUALA LUMPUR: The Buy Malaysian Products campaign is expected to stimulate the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) economy in six months.
SME Association of Malaysia president Datuk Michael Kang Hua Keong, however, said that the government's RM20 million allocation via the Penjana Economic Recovery Plan for the Buy Malaysian Products campaign to increase the visibility of Malaysian wares in hypermarkets and e-commerce platforms should be used correctly.
"Both the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry and Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation should be committed in pushing local brands," he said, adding that the campaign would support local businesses that had been affected by slow sales and diminishing funds following the Covid-19 pandemic.
Sunway University Business School economics professor Dr Yeah Kim Leng said promoting domestic spending and purchases of products would allow the survival of small, medium and family-run enterprises in the long run.
"Retail, hotel and restaurant, domestic travel and tourism, events and entertainment industries are facing a slow recovery due to the fear of virus infections, compounded by strict measures such as social distancing and other restrictions.
"With private consumption accounting for close to 60 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP), encouraging Malaysians to support these businesses will ensure speedier economic recovery and lower job losses," he said.
Yeah said there were challenges in supporting the Buy Malaysian Products campaign as most locals were holding back on their spending due to reduced income, loss of job, uncertain economic prospects and the stay-at-home lifestyle.
He said Malaysians would buy local products when they were easily available and able to compete with the imported ones when it came to cost and quality.
Echoing a similar sentiment, Putra Business School business development manager Associate Professor Dr Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff said the initiative was meant to support the service sector in the hospitality industry.
"When this happens, local businesses can recover and remain in operation, and are able to retain their local workers.
"It will reduce dependency on imported products and help to promote the expansion and growth of substitute products made locally," he said.
Ahmed Razman reminded local businesses not to take the initiative for granted and ensure their products were on a par with imported ones, if not better.
Meanwhile, economist Professor Dr Mohd Nazari Ismail from Universiti Malaya's Department of Business Strategy and Policy said if the government's concern was the long-term welfare of society, the focus should be on lowering the nation's debt.
"The severe economic problem we are facing as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic right now is due to the high level of debt in the economy. If the debt level in the economy is minimal, the economic pain will be considerably low," he said.
Nazari said there was no urgency to ask the public to spend their money unnecessarily, which could lead them into more debt.
"The total household debt is now more than RM1 trillion or more than 80 per cent to GDP, so we should urge people to be careful when spending and avoid debt.
"If people are going deeper into debt, and then suddenly we have a second wave of Covid-19 and MCO needs to be enforced again, imagine the economic pain that will ensue," he said.
Source: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2020/07/609792/use-buy-malaysian-products-allocation-correctly-urges-sme-chief