Azmin says it again: no more economic lockdowns

TANGKAK - The government assures that it will not close any economic sector, especially small and medium enterprise (SME) despite the soaring number of Covid-19 cases.

Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said, this is after taking into account the negative effect on the economy and the unemployment rate due to the movement control order (MCO) imposed in 2020.

He said this is in line with the government’s decision not to conduct a "total lockdown”, while MITI will do its best to ensure that business owners are not facing severe economic impacts that will leave more businesses to collapse.

"Yes, the government will not announce an MCO because of its impact on the economy and employment.

"As an example in early 2020, we did a total lockdown, the unemployment rate rose to 5.3 per cent leaving 826,000 Malaysians without a job.

"We cant implement a total lockdown again. What we can do based on data and science is a targetted approach,’’ he said, after attending a Chinese New Year celebration dinner with Tangkak’s SME owners at the Jubli Intan Sultan Ibrahim hall here on Sunday evening.

Commenting further, Azmin also stated that the Public-Private Partnership Covid-19 Industry Immunisation Programme (Pikas) have seen some two million manufacturing workers vaccinated, an initiative spearheaded by MITI to ensure the economic sector will not be severely affected by Covid-19. - Awani.