COVID-19

COVID: Sarawak’s small businesses urged to go digital

06/05/2021 03:53 PM

KUCHING, May 6 -- The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) has urged small business operators in Sarawak to digitalise their operations to ensure their survival amidst uncertainties of the COVID-19 situation.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said with the rising cases of COVID-19 nationwide and the restricted movement following the implementation of Movement Control Order (MCO) in most part of the country, it is hard to predict when things will go back to pre-pandemic days.

He said following his meeting with various groups and organisations representing businesses operators in the state, it is found that most are affected by the current situation.

“I know many Sawarak-speciality goods producers, such as the layer cakes producers are having a hard time right now because tourists are not coming in. Therefore, they need to have a presence online so they can still reach out to potential customers, not only in Malaysia but also globally.

“Going digital is the new norm. To date, there are many e-marketplace platforms for them to place their products and services out there, including the recently launched e-commerce platform WarongKu,” he said in a statement today.

Wan Junaidi said based on observations by MEDAC and its agencies, businesses that have set up digital presence are not only able to survive but have seen significant growth in their monthly sales by as much as 200 per cent.

However, he said for this migration process to be successful, businesses would need to go for training as well as skill enhancement programmes in order to equip them with relevant knowledge and skills.

“Having a digital presence is not simply about parking your product and services in the e-marketplace. You need to learn other soft skills...such as photography, copywriting in order to make your products more appealing to customers.

“This is where MEDAC and its agencies can assist as we strive to provide entrepreneurs with hand-holding assistance. For this, we have agencies such as TEKUN to assist with micro-financing and INSKEN to help with training. Those who are interested, please come talk to these agencies,” he added.

-- BERNAMA


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