KUALA LUMPUR: The green light given by the government for businesses in almost all economic sectors to reopen on Monday does not mean they can move at full throttle, as they must slowly change gears after over 40 days of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
Major transformations are expected to be enforced, such as Covid-19 precautionary measures for new business models being adopted.
SME Association of Malaysia president Datuk Michael Kang foresees a lot of changes ahead for the industry due to the pandemic, and businesses will not operate as usual.
"There are a lot of aspects to get used to and gaining acceptance in terms of adhering to health guidelines and standard operating procedures such as social distancing, putting on masks and temperature checks. Even now, we have to figure out a way to keep the number of staff to a minimum, as gatherings are not allowed and there needs to be a scheduling of meetings.
"And with the social distancing in place, changes have to be made, such as in the manufacturing industry. At a manufacturing line, they can no longer have 20 people sitting closely in a row. It has to be reduced to 10 and this may lead to bringing in artificial intelligence machines and robots to replace human resources for more efficiency in the future.
"A lot of new business models will come up and our Malaysian businessmen are creative and innovative. They will find solutions to overcome the new norms and policies," Kang told the New Straits Times.
Kang said the reopening of almost all economic sectors is something the business community has been looking forward to, but its full recovery would not be instant.
"This will take time – it would be at least three to six months before it gets to a comfortable level. It may only go into full gear next year.
"We are supportive of the government's move to allow almost all businesses to resume, as there were fears of drying financial resources should restrictions remain, on top of the inability to sustain their businesses.
"Many faced the risk of shutting down, laying off some 30 to 40 per cent of their staff or retrenchment. So this was much awaited news and a huge relief," added Kang.
Meanwhile, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai said there would be a lot of "kick-starting" to do come Monday.
Soh said one of the challenges they would face is in coordinating the supply chain flow.
"We need to jumpstart all of the activities, from dealing with customers, suppliers, logistics and more. There are manufacturing machines that have been left idle which need to be checked, repaired and maintained. We need time to get that done.
"The same goes for the supply of raw materials, as industry players did not place their orders during the MCO. So with the reopening of the sectors, there might be an issue with inconsistency of raw supplies or even a shortage of it. The export sectors need to get themselves ready for shipping activities too," said Soh.
Soh added that there is also the matter of complying with the guidelines set by the Health Ministry, which he said would take one to two days to be completed.
He added that Malaysia may take 12 months to restore its economy due to the impact of Covid-19, but that might not happen if the vaccine is not discovered soon.
"Our country's economic recovery is reliant on the world's economic recovery too. We may have reopened our economic sectors, but some countries are still under lockdown.
"However, the government's decision is a step in the right direction, as we need to strike a balance between keeping Covid-19 at bay and maintaining our economic vibrancy.
"The restarting of the industries will enhance cash flow, business activities and help people retain jobs and reduce the rate of unemployment," said Soh.
Soh also urged the government to consider subjecting foreign workers to health screenings to avert possible Covid-19 clusters, as have formed in Singapore.