Penjana can help SMES achieve quick recovery

KUALA LUMPUR: The National Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana), which was announced by the government in June to aid businesses affected by Covid-19, can help small and medium enterprises (SMES) in achieving recovery.

This is based on a survey conducted by SME Corp Malaysia involving 982 respondents recently, which found that 17% of SMES were confident their business could recover within three months, aided by Penjana.

SME Corp chief executive officer Rizal Nainy said of the 40 initiatives under the short-term plan, 24 initiatives worth Rm14.5bil were viewed as being able to boost the activities of SMES hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

“The majority of the 17% of SMES that expected to recover in the (three-month) period are from the food and beverage sector,” he told a media conference on SMES’ performance for 2019.