The Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) called on the relevant authorities to allow micro and informal businesses to operate from home and to look into ways on how this can be done while adhering to the safety standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar in a statement said, in today’s post Covid-19 era many are turning to entrepreneurship as their means of livelihood, especially those who have lost their jobs because of the current economic situation.
He said the pandemic had caused all of us to adopt many ways of doing things and as such there is certainly a need to review outdated policies in order to suit the current situation, the new norms.
“Due to many factors, more and more opt to operate home business. And now in response to the government’s call for businesses to digitalise their operations, it may no longer be necessary to operate via a physical shop.
“Soho concept has been widely practised in developed countries. It enables businesses to keep their overhead low and this translate to being able to offer competitive products and services to end consumers.
“It is time we update and upgrade the existing law and regulations to suit the new norm and help create a more conducive environment for small businesses to thrive so that they can also contribute to the post Covid-19 economic recovery,” he added.
There are currently close to 2 million micro and informal businesses nationwide, and most of them are severely hit by the pandemic, as a result movements control orders (MCO) imposed by the government to control the spread of the pandemic.
Due to the challenging economic situation at the moment, which resulted in high number of employers laying off workers, MEDAC anticipates to see more to open up small businesses to make ends meet.
-NIAGATIMES
