Business optimism to rise under NRP’s Phase 4, says SUPP man

Datuk Sim Kiang Chiok

KUCHING (Jan 3): Business optimism in Sarawak would rise under Phase 4 of the National Recovery Plan (NRP), said Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Stakan branch chairman Dato Sim Kiang Chiok.

According to him, the state’s transition into Phase 4 today signifies that the country is moving into the endemic phase of Covid-19.

“Business, manufacturing, construction, plantations and more (sectors) can resume their operations at full capacity, with less fear of further disruptions due to full lockdowns.

“Phase 4 will enable businesses to restore (and) rebuild – some can even accelerate growth in their businesses,” he said in a statement.

Sarawak and Kelantan are the last two states in Malaysia to enter Phase 4 of the NRP.

“With Phase 4 being less restrictive on movement, this will help us restore our livelihood further and towards the pre-Covid-19 phase.

“Businesses can operate at 100 per cent capacity and more restrictions will be lifted so that more physical business interactions are allowed, while the standard operating procedures (SOPs) such as social distancing, wearing of face masks and scanning of MySejahtera for contact-tracing, remain in place,” said Sim.

Following the transition, Sim suggested the government to provide more assistance to help facilitate the ‘ease of doing business’, and also to provide incentives for more businesses to conduct at a higher level of operations.

“They can instruct the Bank Negara to relax lending rules by commercial banks so that viable but loss-making companies during the Covid-19 period are able to restructure, reschedule and apply for loans to resume and restore their businesses,” he said.

However, Sim also pointed out that labour shortage, especially in ‘3D’ jobs (dangerous, dirty and difficult) remained in some industries, such as construction and plantations.

“Border controls are still strict in most countries, with quarantine requirements that not only affect our tourism industry, but also the restoration of our economic capacity to its full potential.

“As such, the National Budget 2022 must be implemented effectively and efficiently so that all the incentives and assistance can reach the intended target groups,” he said.

Sim also said the Sarawak government had given its assurance that the Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) 8.0 would be implemented.

“Hopefully, there would be more business assistance and programmes under BKSS 8.0 to help all sectors in Sarawak,” he added.

from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3JxUD69
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