Temporary measures bill on COVID-19 is on the card

The government is drafting a Temporary Measures Bill to mitigate the social and economic impacts of COVID-19, said the International Trade and Industry Ministry (MITI).

The ministry said the survey and valuable suggestions for the Bill, which has been made public at Malaysia Productivity Corporation's online consultation platform called Unified Public Consultation (UPC), would be closed on June 5, 2020.

"Be part of this effort and provide your suggestions for the Bill," it said in its recent post on Twitter.

One of the respondents at UPC, suggested for the government to create an e-commerce platform under the responsible ministry for all small and medium enterprises (SME) as the existing platform might have a mixed level of business, hence, focusing on growing the SMEs is not so impactful.

Another respondent said the federal and state government, as well as private organisations, should consider making enacting a law or rules to cut all bonus/initiative/ financial aid (additional to the usual salary) to be credited to this e-commerce platform.

"Subsidies also can be channelled through this platform. This will ensure that all chance of getting extra fund/income is focusing on the development of SMEs," said the respondent.

Another respondent suggests there should be a central coordinating body for all agencies, where every ministry and state government must have a central coordinating committee to respond to queries and agency statements.

-- BERNAMA