Government intervention is needed in the short term to prevent the economy from collapsing as recovery will take too long if it depends purely on private business and consumption, an analyst said.

While stimulus packages to keep businesses afloat and give households enough cash are good measures, Ravindran Navaratnam of the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce proposed that Putrajaya implement a command and control structure to respond to the economic crisis.

Such a structure is required to stop the dislocation of capital and labour as well as stimulate the economy, Ravindran told a webinar recently.

This approach, applied selectively to the supply side and not just the demand side, would boost the economy, said Ravindran, who is an adviser in corporate finance and restructuring.

Ravindran’s suggestion comes on the back of Putrajaya’s RM35 billion short-term economic recovery plan announced yesterday. It aims to help micro and small businesses survive sluggish onsumption and help companies retain workers.

As an example of both supply and demand side intervention by the government, Ravindran cited the UK’s actions during World War 2, when it coordinated and funded the production of fighter planes.

KUALA LUMPUR (June 17): The Malaysian government is urged to increase efforts to aggressively woo investors from China, now that Malaysia begins its process of economic recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) vice president Kevin Siah said although many economies worldwide were badly affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, the pandemic brought new opportunities as well.

“We can see at the beginning of the outbreak and when the lockdown was imposed (in China), global supply chains were badly disrupted because many of production of these crucial products are based in China.

“So, I believe post-Covid, many manufacturers will look to diversify their industry outside China. The ASEAN region is definitely the ideal location, and Malaysia should look at this opportunity,” he told Bernama in an interview.

Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had launched the National Economic Recovery Plan — a fast-paced step to rebuild and revitalise the economy in the short term — early this month.

Known as PENJANA, the RM35-billion plan include various initiatives and programmes aimed at attracting more foreign direct investment (FDI).

To make Malaysia more attractive to investors, the government is giving manufacturing companies that chose to relocate to Malaysia a zero tax rate for 10 or 15 years depending on the amount of capital investment made.

It is also giving a 100% tax allowance for five years to encourage existing companies to relocate their overseas facilities back to Malaysia.

Siah said despite facing competition from neighbouring Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia, Malaysia is in an advantageous position for these investors in terms of competitive wages, knowledge-based workforce, investor-friendly policies, and a conducive and stable business environment.

“We need to be proactive in putting these measures into immediate action,” he added.

Siah also added that the International Trade and Industry Ministry and the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry can aid in enhancing the current tourism FDI to the country.

“It can be immediate revenue for the country,” he said.

News from The Edge (June 17, 2020)

Kuala Lumpur, May 5:Manufacturers need to take every opportunity to embrace smarter, connected technologies now but although industry 4.0 has been buzzword for some time, many manufacturers in Malaysia still struggling in whether to move forward with it. The Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) has organized the “Way Forward on IR4.0 for SME” webinar to invite Industry 4.0 expert professionals to share on implementation and the steps to move forward on IR4.0.

The webinar was moderated by Wong Chui Ling, a celebrity entrepreneur and has invited three speakers from Industry 4.0 including a Senior Director from MITI to share with us the grant that offered by our government especially to SMEs.

Dr. Chua Wen Shyan, Head of Malaysian Smart Factory 4.0 (MSF 4.0) under the Selangor Human Resource Development Centre (SHRDC) said that the concept of integrating technologies should be modular, compatible, flexible and scalable to reduce complexity and thus cost-effective and sustainable.

Dr. Chua added that smart factory is a convergence of OT (Operational Technologies) in IoT (Internet of Things), it takes current manufacturing processes to Industry 4.0 standards, ie. highly effective and efficient machines which are capable of five build blocks of technology: data generation, visualization, storage, formulation and analytics.

He emphasized that IR4.0 is not about building computer/system, it’s about custom focus tailor made applications for SMEs which are sustainable transformation. Companies need to have a good understanding about what kind of improvements they required for their own operational needs.

Mr. Tiong Khe Hock, the Managing Director of Omron Electronics Sdn Bhd / President of Malaysia Automation Technology Association (MATA) shared about the steps to Industry 4.0: lean manufacturing, that is to do more and more with less and less - less human effort, less equipment, less time, and less space. Automation and IR 4.0 application can improve bottom-line and help to enhance competitiveness, data analytics and AI implementation.

Tiong pointed out that the challenges faced by Malaysia SME manufacturers such as low productivity, make-to-order requirement and labour intensive operation could be solved by such smart automation facilities. Successful human-machine interface will enable robots to work side-by-side with people. Collaborative cobots and robots could increase productivity, flexibility and quality, leading to greater efficiency.

As to the way forward after the CV-19 impact, Tiong said that the SMEs should do a self-assessment like where and to what extend the company want to move towards automation. In addition, the entrepreneurs need to decide whether business model of the company intended to be upgraded or transformed, also to conduct process improvement such as lean manufacturing, and related talent development.

En. Mohd Mirza Mohamed Noor, Senior Director of National Strategic Initiative, MIMOS explained the application procedures of MITI Industry4WRD initiative during his presentation. The Industry4WRD initiative launched in 2018 to help SMEs in manufacturing sector and services to understand their existing capabilities and gaps in terms of people, process and technologies, and to provide strategic recommendation to adopt the IR4.0.

The Industry4WRD initiative is divided into two components, that are readiness assessment which is to be conducted by MITI, and the business intervention conducted by the MIDA.

In addition, En. Mirza mentioned that SMEs could also get information from the BIZ4WARD data-based info hub.

Most businesses are aware that there is a major change coming and that they need to be ready to capitalize on it. All the three speakers have acknowledged for SMEs that to benefit from IR4.0, there is an urgent need for the manufacturers concerned to increase their practical understanding about digital technologies and applications. With that related knowledge, they can then formulate a digital manufacturing strategy and finally, a digital transformation roadmap.

(Kuala Lumpur) The Malaysian-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) cautiously welcomed the government's decision to allow for the conditional opening of nearly all commercial sectors, but reminded all that once the exercise of vigilance relaxed, the third wave of the CV-19 would result in backlash on our national economy!

Taking the example of Hokkaido, Japan, which had to resume its lockdown the 26 days after lifting it. Stated in a statement issued by MCCC today.

Viewing of this, MCCC President, Datuk Tan Yew Sing pointed out that commercial activities that allowed to operate must strictly adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOP) set by the Ministry of Health. The employers could provide a supportive environment for their employees and not to hold back the potential asymptomatic to protect their own interest.

He further said that although the CV-19 in Malaysia has shown sign of curve flattening, we should not let our guard down, we should exercise self-discipline and maintain a high level of hygiene indeed.

Datuk Tan urged the relevant businesses or sectors to co-operate with the government’s conditional movement control order, to refrain from organizing mass gatherings or religious activities, to help to curbing the spread of CV-19.

It has been more than 40 days since the implementation of MCO on 18 March. We have also entered a new normal, like less going out, keeping social distance, wearing masks, washing hands frequently and so forth. MCCC do hope that every one of us will continue to adhere to and practice these good habits and guard against the resurgent risk of the pandemic.

MCCC called on the government to set up roadblocks in areas where MCO is still in enforcement to avoid a deterioration in traffic congestion.

MCCC also hopes that law enforcement officials will take more considerate measures during the conditional opening period and will not compound people who have unintentionally violated the law, and help people adjust and adapt to the normalcy, while minimizing the misinterpretation of the relaxation order.

MCCC hopes that the government would allow limited visitors, especially donors to visit hospitals, homes for the elderly, nursing homes and orphanages.

The government should also allow the funeral process be conducted for no more than 25 people. After all, it is something that cannot be waited for.

In addition, MCCC considers that to better prevent the spread of the disease, the government should publicly declare the buildings which are restricted to closure for the detection of new cases, to keep the public away from the relevant areas.

(Kuala Lumpur): Malaysia has implemented MCO for more than 40 days and it is great to see that the number of CV-19 cases is declining and the curve also started to flatten. The Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) has organized a webinar to invite expert professionals from public health and NGO sectors to share their insights into what the government and the people could, and/or should do during and after the MCO.

The 7th webinar of MCCC – Beating COVID with the Whole of Malaysia – is moderated by Dr. Khor Swee Kheng, a Physician & Public Health Specialist. Dr. Khor said that the CV-19 pandemic is not only a medical or health problem, it is also a problem of national economy, social, psychological and even political.

Dr. Musa Mohd Nordin, Advisor of Islamic Medical Association Response & Relief Team (IMARET) said that Malaysia should now thinking a safe and middle-of-the-road exit strategy that would not further hurt the economy of Malaysia.

Dr. Musa emphasized 3 crucial elements that should be concerned for the exit strategy: mass testing, tracking and preserving the strength for health services.

Dr. Musa explained that mass testing is essential to stop the CV-19 transmission. It enabled the department to isolate the new cases, to trigger tracking and stop the spread of CV-19 disease. Tracking is important as our country has a large number of migrant workers, these workers are the engine of the industries. The exit strategy should consider a better solution for these migrant workers to do testing to avoid the resurgent risk of CV-19.

Dr. Siti Noor Munirah Ibrahim, Coordinator of Projek Wawasan Rakyat stated that due attention should give to the vulnerable populations such as children, women, those with mental health issues, stateless, refugees and foreign workers.

Dr. Munirah said that the vulnerable populations are struggling for survival during the MCO period. The NGO concern is to make sure they have food and to ensure they are safe from the disease. The society should pay more attention to these communities or otherwise the efforts to combat the CV-19 will be in vain as these populations may not receive, or ignore the restrictions as survival is their most concern.

Dr. Munirah expressed hope that the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development to look into the protection, the basic necessities of children, especially in communities that are struggling financially, regardless whether they are Malaysian or non-citizens. And in addition, the Ministry should also take steps to ensure that those children and women who experiencing domestic violence have a safe place to stay.

Talking about the changes in personal practices when the MCO is lifted, Datuk Dr. Christopher Lee, an Infectious Diseases Specialist and the former Deputy Director General (Research and Technical Support) MOH said that social distancing must still be embedded in all our lives to a certain degree for a certain period of time.

Dr. Christopher Lee said that for industries to open up safely after the lifting of MCO, the industries people should work in collaboration with the health experts to formulate a guideline to safeguard the hygiene of the workers, to do testing and take immediate steps such as isolating and tracking, to stop the CV-19 transmission. He also encouraged employers to change the work culture like visitors should write down their names in order to track when somebody is infected, staff to work on shift to avoid crowded, and so on. The employers must do the monitoring and surveillance after the lifting of MCO.

The Ministry of Human Resources and the Ministry of Health should work together to formulate a general guideline for the industries owners and workers. Dr Christopher Lee added.

Considering the deficiency of PPE, Dr. Musa hopes that the Ministry of Finance to invest more on health services by supporting the Ministry of Health (MOH) as he thinks that the PPE should supply by the MOH.

(Kuala Lumpur): The MCO that implemented in Malaysia not only curb the spread of CV-19 but also adversely affect commercial activities. This impact led many enterprises forced to look way forward to digitize their current businesses.
Yong Kai Ping, Chief Executive of SITEC (Selangor Information Technology and E- Commerce Council) pointed out that digitization is way forward to ensure business sustainability after this crisis.

Yong said that the digitization process covered simple concepts, i.e. (1) Funnel Theory, such as digital sales tools including web-store platforms; (2) Online user behavior, understanding user consumption patterns and competitors through data; (3) O2O marketing model, allowing you to run business from online to offline and retain customers.

However, he said that most of our SMEs and traditional industries face a number of challenges in digital transformation such as lack of relevant knowledge/overall strategy, lack of human resources (e.g. chief technology officer; CTO), lack of resources, uncertain return on investment, and lack of willingness on the part of top management for full implementation of digitization in the company operation.

"The Selangor Information Technology and E-Commerce Council (SITEC) and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) will jointly launch a Digital Center in May to help SMEs digitize through consultation and provide relevant information such as the SME Digitalization Matching Grant". Yong shared this information at the “Digitalization of Current Biz #MCO” webinar.

“Digitalization of Current Biz #MCO” webinar is organized by the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) Young Entrepreneurs Committee which moderated by Tan E Yang, Council member of MCCC Young entrepreneurs Committee/Senior Manager of Green Packet Holdings.

Bryan Soong, the CEO/Founder of Biztory, Vectory Innovation said that the CV-19 pandemic has led many SMEs to switch to e-commerce and he also encouraged micro and small enterprises to move to e-commerce, which could not only reduce costs but also achieve sustainable development. He said that small and micro enterprises could use big data to adopt an omnichannel retail model, selling goods or services by integrating physical and e-commerce channels, and providing customers with a non-discriminatory buying experience.

Bryan Soong also strongly encouraged micro and small enterprises to upload data to the cloud for security. With greater security in the cloud than servers deployed, enterprises adopting the cloud do not have to worry about losing critical data and business applications, and can view data at any time.

Daniel Tay, Managing Director of Beckhoff Automation, on the other hand pointed out that industrial automation is very important to further development of Malaysia’s manufacturing industry. However, most of our manufacturing industry is still between 2.0 and 3.0, and only a few manufacturing industries have moved toward 3.0 to 4.0.

Daniel said that Industry 4.0 mainly linked the Internet of Things (IoT) to manufacturing technology, enabling systems to share information, analyze information, and use it to guide intelligent actions. However, older existing machines for more than 20 years are difficult to upgrade and limited to substitute production.

Daniel also added that adoption of open technologies in industrial automation is critical to sustainable development, and computer-based control is one of the open technologies. MCCC will organize another webinar on IR4.0, the “Way Forward on IR4.0 for SME” on Thursday, April 30, at 11:00 am. This session will be conducted in English.

For more information, please visit the Facebook page of the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (https://www.facebook.com/mccc.my/).

(Kuala Lumpur): The Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC), in response to the covid-19 campaign, donated RM 100,000.00 to the Medical Relief Society Malaysia (MERCY Malaysia) for the purchase of 200 personal protective equipment (PPE) to support frontline health care staff.

This is also one of the support actions of the MERCY Malaysia to the Ministry of Health, the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Center (CPRC) and the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) during the pandemic.

In a statement issued by MCCC today saying that in addition to the financial support, MCCC has also donated 100 cartons of bleach agent and 5000 pieces of disposable medical masks to MERCY Malaysia.

Seeing the rapid spread of covid-19 and the deficiency of protective supplies, the MCCC held a “MCCC Covid-19: Malaysians We Care” fund-raising initiative among its national council and MCCC members and have raised RM113,500.00.

In addition, Guangzhou Tongyuan Technology Co., Ltd., donated 10,000 pieces of medical masks to MCCC in response to the MCCC donations to various regions of China during the outbreak of coronavirus in January 2020.

Given the high demand of masks for front-line staff, the MCCC donated all 10,000 masks to the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) to support their efforts to combat the epidemic and to thank them for their contribution during this period.

The statement stated that several state administrative branches of MCCC also responded to the chamber’s concern for the front-line movement. The Johor branch donated protective clothing and masks to the Johor Doctors Association, the Penang branch donated masks to the Penang state government, the Perak branch donated masks to the police officers in the Jiulong district of Ipoh, and the Sabah branch donated masks, disinfecting hand fluids, body temperature measuring devices, and protective waterproof clothing and sun-protection rainwear clothing to the State Ministry of Health and People's Welfare, Sabah.

Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) urge our government to permit optical shops the option to carry on their operation and offer eyecare services during the 3rd MCO period, especially to those working in Essential Services. The Malaysian Optical Council of the Ministry of Health has in its letter dated on March 17th, 2020, approved the optical shops to operate during the 1st and 2nd MCO periods since the Optometry service is categorized under the Essential Health Services in Malaysia. In fact, there were optical shops operating during the MCO 1st and 2nd periods throughout Malaysia.

During the practicing and operating of eye care services from 18th March until 14th April, 2020, optometrists and opticians have been helping customers to repair spectacles, providing contact lenses, contact lens solutions and etc., and there is no coronavirus case reported due to the provision of eyeglasses and contact lenses during the 1st and 2nd MCO periods.

For doctors, nurses, polices, bomba, Grabriders, bankers, taxi drivers, bus drivers, pilots and many others who are very needed to perform their duties during the MCO periods, and if unfortunately, their eyeglasses or contact lenses are broken, then Optometry services become critical indirectly to these essential services!

MCCC therefore appeal to the Government to allow the Optometry shops to have the option to continue providing their services. In addition, we will expect the optical shop to provide health declaration form to keep track of their customers’ health record and facilitate contact tracing, if so necessary. It is also vital for all operating optical shops to take all precaution steps according to MOH SOP in providing eye care services. Such services should only be provided to persons working in sectors classified as essential.