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Malaysia: Minister urges public to support local businesses
WITH the current economic situation having a major impact on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) following the Covid-19 pandemic, Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah said consumption is one of the major points on how the public can help businesses in this crisis.
Consumption has started to drop, as seen during other previous crises when people cut down on spending money as they feel uncertain as to whether or not their jobs are in jeopardy or their business will worsen, he said at a press conference at the Al-‘Afiah Hall of the Ministry of Health yesterday.
He said those who felt they were in a better position could help businesses by supporting them, citing the example of ordering take-outs from eateries.
“In my case, I take turns when buying take-away from restaurants, in a small way to try and help them as well.
“Maybe the others can do that as well,” said the minister.
“In normal circumstances people would spend as usual, but today consumption is less. We could help make up the difference and everybody can do their part.”
He also touched on how companies had come forward to hire more people through JobCentre, with more than 200 jobs been created over a period of about a week.
He highlighted that assumptions should not be made that every business was affected during this crisis as there were also new businesses being set up.
With the help of DARe (Darussalam Enterprise), these businesses are being set up, benefiting from the current situation because of the additional businesses that have spurred from it.
“We’ve matched 10 of them so far and they’ve gotten jobs over the last few days, but some are still going through interviews. We are fast-processing this so that more can secure jobs,” said the minister.
He said the private sector should also take advantage of the current iReady programme, which includes Higher National Diploma and Technical and Vocational Education and Training for qualified potential employees offered by the government to try to create more employment. — Borneo Bulletin/ANN
Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/2020/04/07/minister-urges-public-to-support-local-businesses