A general view of a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur during the third phase of the movement control order April 16, 2020. — Picture by Hari Anggara

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — A majority of businesses want the federal government to list a set of clear and transparent Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) that would be consistently enforced and interpreted post-movement control order (MCO), the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) said in a survey today.

The 'Post-Movement Control Order (MCO)'s Exit Strategy' survey was conducted among 916 business entrepreneurs from various sectors between April 13 and 21, with almost 94 per cent of participants constituting those from the small-medium enterprises (SME) industry.

Almost 79 per cent of respondents said they wanted a clear and transparent SOP to facilitate their business operations, while 87 per cent said they want the government to co-share the cost of health prevention through a tax deduction on health cost incurred.

Other businesses' desires included continued disinfection operations nationwide to protect public health safety at 75.3 per cent and for the government to not take the ‘one size fits all’ approach for various industries at 67.4 per cent.

The remaining constituted sufficient consultations with the industries and stakeholders (64.5 per cent); enhancing the speed and coverage of internet connections (59.4 per cent) and engaging with the company on Business Continuity Plan (51.5 per cent).

ACCCIM also noted that almost 90 per cent of respondents agreed to lift the MCO with certain conditions such as social distancing measures, protective countermeasures and SOPs among others to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

From the total respondents, 83.9 per cent agreed to have SOP for Covid-19 with 35.5 per cent stating they were in full agreement with almost half of the 916 respondents indicating they need more than six months to recover from the impact of the MCO.

The survey also noted that in terms of preparation, 35.7 per cent of respondents were highly prepared should SOP post-MCO be imposed by the government while 40.5 per cent said they were moderately prepared with only five per cent stating they were not prepared at all.



