MITI’s Initiatives in Recovering the Economy
On May 28, the Ministry Of International Trade And Industry (MITI) had announced that economic sectors under that have been allowed to operate during the first, second and third phase of the MCO have been given the green light to fully increase their operating capacity from April 29.
Following the nod from MITI, ports and car service centers made headlines on the reopening of their businesses.
This came after Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced, on May 1, that almost all business sectors will be allowed to operate starting from May 4 under what is called the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO).
Further, under CMCO, businesses are bound by strict Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
MITI Minister, Azmin Ali said that businesses are to adhere to these SOPs. Failed to do so will result “in the permission to operate to be revoked immediately and will result in legal action”.
Azmin also said that the reopening of the businesses earlier than expected was an urgent move to tackle the current economic crisis.
The Covid-19 pandemic has badly affected the business sector in Malaysia. And this, becomes one of the main concerns of MITI.
Following the reopening of the economy of May 4, MITI announced that they will introduce a six-month short-term recovery plan by the end of May to help revive the economy.
Azmin noted that the country is currently in the restart phase. There are six parts to it namely – resolve, resilience, restart, recovery, revitalize and reform. Following the recovery plan, Azmin said the government plans to table a medium-term revitalization plan under the 2021 Budget, followed by a reform plan which will be of long-term.
Observing MITI’s Media Exposure, the ministry experienced a declining trend following the reopening of the economy. Having said so, MITI still highlighted on some important issues in the month of May instead of going silent altogether.
Beside the six-month recovery plan, MITI under Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) is set to offer one-on-one consultations to help businesses comply with regulations via virtual clinic.
The virtual clinic would help businesses to get advices as well as recommendations on issues and challenges surrounding their business operations. The move was specifically curated to assist enterprises to accelerate business growth and intensify productivity progress for the economy to recover rapidly from the Covid-19 pandemic.