Gov't urged to allow manufacturing industry to operate during MCO

CORONAVIRUS | The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) is appealing to the government to allow essential product manufacturers to operate at 100 percent capacity and non-essential product manufacturers at 50 percent capacity during the duration of the movement control order (MCO).

FFM president Soh Thian Lai (photo) said it was imperative to allow the manufacturing industry to operate to prevent it from collapsing.

"Factories can no longer afford to remain closed while they continue to have financial obligations to meet including salaries and fixed capital expenditures.

"The MCO, besides denying production, has also restricted both import and export activities with an estimated export loss recorded at RM4.7 billion by 453 respondents of the recent FMM survey on the impact of MCO on trade," Soh said in a statement.

He said factories operating under the current 50 percent employment restriction would hinder production capacity to meet the needs of the people.

The FMM also pleaded with the government to allow export and import activities to continue as the majority of orders have been placed before the MCO started on March 18.

More than RM500,000 losses

Soh noted that the survey findings obtained on April 2 show that 56 percent of the 1,120 respondents estimated their losses to be at about RM500,000.

Half of the 56 percent respondents estimated losses of between RM1 million and RM5 million, he said.

"This is particularly true among the medium-sized industries.

"Small-sized industries estimated losses of between RM100,000 and RM300,000, followed by RM500,000 to less than RM1 million.

"Large companies estimated their losses to be RM1 million to RM5 million, followed by above RM5 million."

He said the survey revealed that 71 percent of respondents can tolerate at most four weeks of non-operation.

"It must be noted that the respondents of this survey are only a small fraction of the total 60,000 manufacturers in the country.

"It is estimated that the one-month stoppage in operations could reach to about RM130 billion in GDP losses," he said.

The MCO is expected to be lifted on April 14. However, Putrajaya will decide tomorrow whether there will be an extension.

During the MCO, only essential services are allowed to operate while non-essential services are temporarily closed. - Mkini