KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 (NNN-BERNAMA) — The government will be announcing a six-month economic recovery plan by the end of this month to resuscitate the country’s economy post-COVID-19.
International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said the pandemic has impacted global markets, including Malaysia.
“Businesses have been brought to a grinding halt and unemployment has spiked. Like other economies, we are mitigating the consequences (of the pandemic),” he said while addressing a webinar by the Electrical and Electronics Productivity Nexus today.
Among all the sectors affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the electrical and electronics (E&E) sector took the hardest hit with cumulative losses estimated to be at RM7.28 billion, while losses in imports are expected to amount to RM29.12 billion, said Azmin.
He noted that the local E&E ecosystem is part of the global supply chain and remains as a significant contributor to the country’s gross domestic product and the backbone to the economy.
Azmin said to mitigate the pandemic’s adverse impact on the economy, the country has resumed almost all of its economic activities.
“This will create jobs while ensuring a safe environment for the workers with industrial health standard operating procedures in place.
“So far, we have managed to contain COVID-19, thanks to the endless efforts from the frontliners,” he said.
He also called upon businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises to look at the present challenges as an opportunity to accelerate digitalisation, as that is the best way forward.
“COVID-19 has shown why digitalisation is the way forward especially in business.
“By embracing digitalisation, not only is a business future-proofed, but it could also lead to sustainable economic growth,” he said.
— NNN-BERNAMA