In a survey conducted by SME Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp), it was found that nearly 70% of small-medium enterprises (SMEs) believed that their business could recover within three to twelve months.

The 69% of respondents who foresaw recovery in the next three to twelve months were mostly in the textile, wholesale, and retail sectors, revealed SME Corp chief executive officer Rizal Nainy. Meanwhile, 17% of the 982 respondents expect their business to recover in the next three months and these SMEs were mostly from the food and beverage sector. Lastly, SMEs in the worst-hit sectors such as tourism were projected to take more than a year to recover.

According to Rizal, the PENJANA economic recovery plan managed to aid businesses affected by Covid-19 in achieving business recovery. 24 of the 40 initiatives under the PENJANA plan worth RM14.5 billion were viewed as being able to boost the activities of SMEs hit by the pandemic.

Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar added that the key initiatives introduced under PENJANA were financial assistance, the loan moratorium period to ease cash flow, tax incentives, and the wage subsidy programme, which helped to cushion the adverse impact of Covid-19 and spur SME growth.

“According to data from the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), 4,542 companies ceased operations during the April 1 – July 19, 2020 period,” said Wan Junaidi. “On the other hand, 82,555 new businesses were registered in the same period.”

As such, the minister said, the challenge now lays on the agility of SMEs in Malaysia to adopt differentiated strategies to survive in the new normal. Wan Junaidi further said that this can be done by embracing digitalisation for business operations, developing a business continuity plan, and working closely with financial institutions to manage cash positions.

(Source: Malay Mail)

• TAGS:
• Covid-19
• PENJANA Economic Recovery Plan
• SME
• SME Corp
• SMEs