LOCAL governments came together on Webinar recently to share their views and exchanged ideas on restoring local economy through various initiatives.
According to Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Datuk Yew Tung Seang, a total of 1,000 participants from local governments in Malaysia took part in one of the biggest Webinar platforms held thus far in the country.
The Webinar, titled ‘Stimulating Local Economy Post Covid- 19′, was organised by Malaysian Association of Local Authorities (MALA) in which it had four panellists, who represented district council, local municipal council, local city council, and United Cities and Local Governments Asia Pacific (UCLG-ASPAC).
The panellists were Gua Musang district president Datuk Norazman Abd. Ghani, Port Dickson Municipal Council president Mohd. Zamri Mohd. Esa, Miri City Council city secretary Morshidi Frederick and UCLG-ASPAC secretary general Dr Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi.
The Webinar also featured United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN ‐ Habitat) executive editor Datuk Seri Maimunah Mohd. Shariff.
Yew urged all the local authorities to work towards enhancing the economy in their respective cities as the country is currently in the restoration period.
“In times like this, we need to utilise our resources to stimulate the local economy especially to help those who are involved in the micro economy.
“There should be a continuous involvement with industries whereby the local government needs to provide opportunities to those industries which are affected such as the tourism, construction, the traders as well as multinational companies (MNC).
“They should be given the opportunity to share their problems as well as getting input and suggestions with regard to receiving help from the local authorities.
“The local authorities need to optimise the facilities and the existing infrastructure through the public-private partnership to revive the economy and help people to rebuild their livelihood,’’ said Yew, who chaired the Webinar meeting on July 20.
Yew said the statistics given by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) showed that the national unemployment rate has increased by 5%, which is the highest in the span of 30 years.
“Although the Covid-19 pandemic has been mitigated well, the movement control order (MCO) has impacted almost all the economic sectors on a large scale.
“This has resulted in the increase of ‘loss of employment’ rate for the first quarter of the year (2020) by 42% compared to the same quarter of the year in 2019.
“The number of people being jobless has also increased to almost 50% which is equivalent to some 800,000 people this year,’’ said Yew.
The mayor added that the MCO has led the council to move towards digitalisation, for instance, holding virtual meetings, cashless transactions, e-commerce and many others.
“The local authority, as the Third Tier Government closest to the community, needs to be proactive and initiate ways to create a platform towards digital economy,’’ added Yew.
Meanwhile, the secretary-general of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, Datuk Zainal Abidin Abu Hasan in his keynote address, stated that local authorities need to facilitate and expedite any kind of assistance to the traders during the recovery movement control order (RMCO) so as to boost the local economy.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis