FMBA chairman Abdul Malik Abdullah welcomed Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s announcement to open the country’s borders and relax SOPs for the economic and social sectors, but said Putrajaya should help businesses that suffered due to previous pandemic restrictions and had yet to recover.

“The government has ignored businesses that are still in a critical situation and need assistance to continue operating,” he said at a press conference today.

He said the assistance could be in the form of a special moratorium so that the burden on businesses would be reduced.

Malik also said that any increase in utility prices should be postponed because it would contribute to higher operating costs, which would result in an increase in the prices of products and services.

“We are beginning to breathe again, let us breathe,” he said, adding that government agencies should cease taking any action against them for the time being.

“A system to lessen business stress on entrepreneurs should also be established.”

He also said that proposals to review or raise the minimum wage of employees should be temporarily suspended until businesses had recovered.

“FMBA is also hoping for the government to establish guidelines to enable businesses to retain their workers so that they can operate efficiently as the economy recovers,” Malik said.