pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

THE “Buy Malaysian Product Campaign” saw a 485% increase in sales in the third quarter of 2020 (3Q20) compared to 1Q20 on online platforms such as Shopee Malaysia, Lazada Malaysia, PrestoMall and PG Mall Sdn Bhd.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday that the sales in 3Q20 amounted to RM43.53 million versus RM7.44 million registered in 1Q20.

As for the sales in local hypermarkets and abroad, the campaign recorded a 1.8% increase in total sales which amounted to RM1.62 billion in 3Q20 compared to RM1.59 billion in the same period last year.

He said the increase in sales translated to a positive sign for the retail sector in the country amid the Covid-19 pandemic which has hampered operations in many sectors.

“Regarding the promotional initiatives and media plan for the overall campaign, the ministry managed to reach the targeted objective as we reached a cumulative viewership of 14.75 million for all medium including print and electronic media, social media, as well as new media that involved almost all of the main media owners in the county.

“Therefore, the ongoing Buy Malaysian Product Campaign initiative by the government is crucial and able to revive domestic demand and recover the retail sector especially in the effort to recover the country’s economy which has been hit by the Movement Control Order (MCO) due to the pandemic,” he said during the Minister’s Questions Time yesterday.

Meanwhile, Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri said the government had not cancelled the Malaysia My Second Home programme. Instead, the programme has been temporarily frozen to allow the ministry and related agencies to conduct a comprehensive review.

She said the MCO that began in March which had led to the closure of the country’s borders had given the ministry the opportunity to re-evaluate the programme which had not been thoroughly checked since its launch in 2002.

“The detailed evaluation includes various aspects such as criteria, terms and relevant incentives.

“Following the freeze, Motac, which acts as the coordinator of the programme is unable to process new applications,” said Nancy who was responding to the question posed by Maria Chin Abdullah (Petaling Jaya-PH).

Responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Mohd Salim Sharif (Jempol-BN), Nancy said a total of 66,458 applicants had been approved since 2018.

China recorded the highest number of applicants followed by Japan, Bangladesh, Republic of Korea, the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Iran and India.

Separately, on matters relating to by-elections, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof said the government will study the need to create a new act on elections amid the pandemic if it needs to.

Mohd Redzuan was responding to a supplementary question from Datuk Jalaluddin Alias (Jelebu-BN) who asked if the government would introduce a new act or reduce the campaign period during elections to curb the spread of the virus as the spike in new positive cases originated from the Sabah state election.

“An election involves mass gathering and campaigns, but these matters are under the jurisdiction of the Election Commission.

“I cannot give further information if a by-election or an election can be held or not, but the government is always monitoring. If there is a need to create a new act, we will study it and present it to the public,” he said.