Local entrepreneurs lauds EAC formation

KUCHING: Young entrepreneurs and business community support the formation of Sarawak Economic Action Council (EAC) to facilitate the state governments post Covid-19 economic strategy, as announced by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg on Wednesday.

Sarawak Entrepreneur Association (SEA) president Nizam Khalyd said that while public health was always a top priority, the government had to strike a balance between health and economic matters.

“The Sarawak EAC is an excellent avenue to mitigate these issues and challenges faced by local entrepreneurs,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He also agreed with the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee’s (SDMC) decision to open up the economy in stages, as the local business community needed to be comfortable with the pace of normalisation in post lockdown of their economic activity.

He said that large corporations such as government-linked companies (GLCs) or multinational companies might be well-prepared to open their businesses with their own standard operating procedures (SOPs), but this was not the case for some small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and micro enterprises.

“We need to galvanise a coherent economic response and at the same time reenergise support behind these micro enterprises, formulating balance between opening business and ensuring a safe workplace environment for employees and clients.

“The scenario for business owners is risky if employees are found to be (Covid-19) positive as it will involve the health department, testing, and sanitisation – which will incur astronomical bills,” he said.

Nizam said he was looking forward to the announcement of SDMC’s strategies, SOPs, and comprehensive guidelines.