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PETALING JAYA: More than 30,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have closed their operations since the motion control order (MCO) was implemented in March.
The Minister of Business Development and Cooperatives, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, said today that 9,675 SMEs ceased operations during the first phase of the MCO from March 18 to June 9, and 22,794 during the recovery phase of the MCO (RMCO) June to September.
“The highest figure was recorded in August with 17,800 SMEs shutting down,” he said, citing statistics from the Malaysian Business Commission, in a written parliamentary response to June Leow Hsiad Hui (PH-Hulu Selangor).
Leow wanted to know how many SMEs have closed their businesses since the MCO was imposed to stop the spread of Covid-19 and what the ministry was doing to counter this.
Wan Junaidi said that surveys conducted by the ministry found that the majority of the companies that closed were micro SMEs, accounting for 79.5% of closings during the MCO and 70.8% during the RMCO.
He also said that most of the micro SMEs surveyed had not yet received government assistance.
In addition to proposing more financial aid for these entrepreneurs and greater access to this aid, the ministry suggested an expansion of training programs in promotion, marketing and product development, he said.
He also proposed hosting programs to help entrepreneurs digitize their businesses.
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