Govt, agencies to find ways to speed up assistance approval process - Redzuan

For example, he said if an application for a financial assistance takes two months to be approved, the period could be shortened so that the recipient could benefit from it as soon as possible.

"The delivery system must be more efficient or we need to be faster in performing our responsibilities as leaders .. we need to tighten up a little bit the process and we need to ensure that every help we give reaches those who really need help.

"This can be done with the use of big data analytic to ensure that we know who really needs the assistance," he said in an interview on Bernama TV’s Ruang Bicara programme themed “Budget 2021: Access to jobs and raising income" last night.

Mohd Redzuan said the government takes seriously the situation where many had lost their jobs while companies, especially in the services sector, had to wind up operations due to declining demand, with the tabling of the RM322.5 billion Budget 2021, the largest in the country’s history.

On employment opportunities, Mohd Redzuan said the government would empower the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, as it is the backbone of the country's economy and able to expand job opportunities.

Among the government assistance channelled to SMEs under Budget 2021 include the provision of a RM300 million financing scheme for the Cooler Earth Sustainability Scheme by SME Bank to promote the transformation of Bumiputera micro and small businesses.

Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Datuk Shamsuddin Bardan, who was also present, said it would also like to see employers given assistance to help them stabilise their companies.

“They can also opt for the gig economy, but for that, we may need a new law that can cover this growing digital economy,” he said.