KUALA LUMPUR, March 22 — The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) is working closely with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to undertake a number of initiatives in support of the two-week Movement Control Order (MCO) period.
In a statement today, FMM said these include identifying a list of essential goods for MITI to take to the National Security Council (NSC) for exemption and subsequently working to establish mechanisms to ensure an uninterrupted supply of these products.
“Subsequent to the approval of the list by NSC, MITI swung quickly into action with the establishment of the online system for companies to apply for the approval to operate during the MCO period and also activated its war room to process the applications on a 24-hour basis under the supervision of International Trade and Industry Senior Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali himself.
“Because of the overwhelming number of applications, FMM Secretariat and the other MITI agencies were also mobilised to assist MITI to verify applications and handle enquiries on applications,” it said.
At present, it said, the number of applications has stabilised and approvals have been given for the production of critical essential goods such as food items, personal protective equipment such as face masks, sanitisers, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.
MITI has also formed a MITI-FMM Taskforce to monitor and ensure the uninterrupted supply of essential goods and FMM is also working with the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry and the Transport Ministry in ensuring supply to hypermarkets and stores.
FMM said due to the strong collaboration between the government and the private sector, it is highly confident that there will be ample and sufficient availability of basic and critical essential goods for the rakyat during the MCO period. — Bernama
