KUCHING, Nov 24: The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs will continue to intensify high-impact campaigns including the Buy Malaysian Products Campaign (KBBM) and the Malaysian Sales Programme (PJM) next year to support the recovery and empowerment of all trade sectors in the country.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said KBBM has recorded a positive impact on the domestic economy, with sales value of Malaysian-made goods for 2020 reaching RM3.3 billion as compared to RM2.87 billion in 2019.
As for PJM, it successfully recorded a sales value of RM135.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020, which was above the RM100 billion target.
Speaking at the Domestic Trade Awards 2020 last night, Ismail said 2020 and 2021 turned out to be very challenging due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the biggest challenge was to revive the country’s economy.
“Thus, the government has begun the process of recovery through the implementation of Budget 2022 and the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) as announced recently, mainly to focus fully on efforts to revive the country’s economy.
“Among the measures are re-empowerment of the domestic trade sector where the government has allocated RM33 million under the 2022 Budget, specifically to revitalize the trade distribution sector.
“Through this allocation, KPDNHEP will continue with their high-impact KBBM and PJM campaigns which have already been implemented and will be intensified next year,” Ismail said.
KPDNHEP was also given the task to ensure adequate food supply and necessities throughout the implementation period of the Movement Control Order (PKP).
The daily monitoring is also KPDNHEP’s commitment to the responsibility given by the government, namely to ensure adequate food supply and necessities.
These agencies he said, played a full role in helping the business community weather the difficult period caused by the Covid-19 pandemic while all initiatives and incentives towards facilitating businesses will have a positive impact on economic recovery efforts.
“We need to be brave to ‘reboot’ and implement ‘best practices’ in the industry. Digitisation is a major agenda today. In fact, this is also the main focus of the government in the coming years.
“Among them is accelerating the digitalisation agenda. The concept of ‘omni-channel’ business and focusing on the ‘low touch’ economy needs to be emphasised. These will require industry players to embrace and adopt technology as well as digitalisation in a wider scope,” Ismail added.
Meanwhile, Ismail also said the Retail Sector Immunization Programme (RiVAC) conducted by KPDNHEP has allowed nearly 56,000 workers in the retail sector to be fully vaccinated nationwide through public and private partnerships.
Through the RiVAC Programme, he asserted that it has directly guaranteed protection to workers in the retail sector and helped spur the country’s economic recovery.
“The Government believes that these achievements are the result of good cooperation between all parties. This is the kind of agreement that I want to apply to all parties with the concept of ‘Malaysian Family’,” Ismail said. — DayakDaily
