PENJANA initiatives assist SMEs, vulnerable groups - Ernst & Young
KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 -- It is comforting to see the continuation of measures to support the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the rakyat, especially the vulnerable and B40 groups, under the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA) announced by the government yesterday, said Ernst & Young Asean and Malaysia tax leader Amarjeet Singh.
He said these initiatives included a three-month extension of the Wage Subsidy Programme, RM50 million higher allocation to the PEKA B40 healthcare support programme and an additional RM2 billion for subsidised SME financing, while new initiatives included RM1.5 billion in funding for Hiring and Training Assistance for Businesses, and the RM2 billion Reskilling and Upskilling Programmes.
Amarjeet said COVID-19 had accelerated the need for digital transformation and to facilitate and support this, the government had now introduced various initiatives and measures, including the Micros and SMEs E-commerce Campaign, matching grants and loans for technical and digital adoption, the MyAssist SME One Stop Shop (an online business advisory platform), and the Technology Innovation Sandbox.
"The government is also accelerating the digitalisation of its services in areas such as stamp duty and unclaimed monies matters.
"It is hoped that this is the beginning of a move to substantially increase the use of technology by the government in interactions with the public and the delivery of services in the new normal," he said in a statement today.
Under the PENJANA plan, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced 40 initiatives worth RM35 billion, of which RM10 million will be direct fiscal injection by the government.
There were also various measures aimed at encouraging local entrepreneurship and promoting investments, said Amarjeet.
For the SMEs, he said, measures have been introduced to spur the setting-up of new businesses, i.e. income tax rebate of RM20,000 per year for the first three years and stamp duty exemption for mergers and acquisitions.
"Generous incentives were announced to encourage foreign investors to relocate large operations to Malaysia. These include a full tax exemption for 10 or 15 years, and Investment Tax Allowances for investments meeting the minimum capital investments," he said.
Combined with its world-class infrastructure network, connectivity and multilingual talent pool, he said, these incentives would imposition Malaysia as one of the most competitive countries in ASEAN for foreign direct investments (FDIs).
"The government’s promise of greater efficiency, for example the issuance of manufacturing licenses for non-sensitive industries within two days, will also boost investor confidence," Tan said.
In line with the push towards digitalisation, it is also important for the government to consider incentives for non-capital intensive businesses that also generate significant economic benefits through local spending, the creation of high level jobs and/or the development or use of cutting-edge technology.
"Overall, the PENJANAn focuses on the right priorities – saving jobs and preserving business continuity, digitalisation, encouraging high-value investments and further improving government efficiency," he added.
-- BERNAMA
