Its members are worried about a collapse of the supply chain if only certain sectors are allowed to operate, but the supplying industries cannot do so

by AZREEN HANI / pic by HUSSEIN SHAHARUDDIN

MALAYSIAN-GERMAN Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MGCC) said it is working with the government on trade matters in Malaysia, amid the pandemic.

“The Malaysian-German Chamber is regularly in touch with ministries and authorities to communicate regarding trade matters, especially in times of crisis,” MGCC told The Malaysian Reserve (TMR) when asked to comment on a letter addressed to the Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin recently.

The chamber did not deny nor confirm the letter, which among others, reiterated its call for the government to provide better clarity on the Covid standard operating procedures (SOPs), as well as to ramp up the vaccination drive to ensure their businesses’ survivability.

MGCC said the ever-changing SOPs in line with the change of Movement Control Order (MCO) to the Enhanced MCO status led to confusions not only in terms of implementation, but also enforcement including from the police and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) itself.

“The EMCO is not yet reflected in MITI CIMS 3.0 system, but manufacturing companies depend on MITI exemption letters to operate and allow their staff to safely come to work and return home.

“In one case, an essential classification (example: fragrances which are necessary for soaps and sanitisers) was revoked overnight without any notification or explanation. In other cases, PDRM (the police) insisted on MITI exemption letters although the companies do not fall under the purview of MITI,” the letter read.

MGCC said its members are increasingly worried about a collapse of the supply chain if only certain sectors are allowed to operate, but the supplying industries cannot do so.

“If certain sectors are allowed to operate, but suppliers of packaging, raw materials, parts and components as well as logistics cannot work or can only operate on very minimal capacity, the supply chain will be disrupted and eventually break down which will have dire effects for Malaysia.”

“If companies in certain sectors are allowed to operate, all related industries have to operate as well because otherwise the supply chain will collapse. We urge you to ramp up vaccination efforts as our members are well prepared to pay for the vaccines and organise vaccination of their staff.”