KUALA LUMPUR: Another round of Movement Control Order (MCO) would lead to more local businesses folding up and leading to increased unemployment throughout the country.
SME Association of Malaysia vice president Chin Chee Seong said in a statement that another round of MCO would kill more businesses which are currently just grappling to stay afloat.
"Although we appreciate the need to strike that delicate balance between saving lives and saving livelihoods, the second round of total lockdown would be disastrous for small and medium enterprises (SME) which would then be forced to lay off employees," said Chin, who is also Malaysia Cross-Border e-Commerce Association national president.
Yesterday, the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) had also issued a similar statement requesting for business and economic activities to be allowed to continue operating, albeit under stricter Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
FMM president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai was quoted saying the association support a targeted Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) which is more localised with a stricter standard operating procedure (SOP) and travel restrictions but not a total lockdown similar to that implemented in March 2020.
Chin also urged government agencies for faster application processing for grants and incentives for local SMEs.
"The reality today is that SMEs continue to suffer significant economic loss as a result of pandemic-induced restrictions and hindrances," he said.
He said SME Association has identified numerous measures that the government could undertake to accelerate the recovery for businesses as well as the economy as a whole from the adverse impact caused by the pandemic.
Among the government's grants and incentives, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and BSN jointly-managed SME Digitalisation Grant and the Penjana Smart Automation Grant are both favourable forms of financial assistance for SMEs.
"However, the grant application process is paved with its own set of challenges. Many applicants have experienced long processing times, taking months in some cases, before their applications were matched and approved.
"Even after obtaining approval, the SME Association has received feedback that funds were slow in being remitted, resulting in further setbacks in business operations.
"Although the association appreciates the availability of these grants, we cannot stress enough the importance for them to be disbursed quickly so that local SMEs could then digitise their operations and increase productivity," Chin further said.
He also suggested more entrepreneurship and digital training programmes to be introduced and implemented especially for the Malaysian youth community.
"Furthermore, the government should also consider furnishing businesses with more employee-centric incentives and financial packages in order for them to hire more fresh graduates," he added.
"The SME Association hopes that with all the necessary financial incentives in place and acceleration in the handling and processing of applications by the relevant government agencies, the economy would begin showing signs of recovery by the second quarter of 2021," Chin said.