Manufacturing was among the industrial sectors worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI).
Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday, MITI Deputy Minister Datuk Lim Ban Hong said the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) to curb the spread of the virus had resulted in the sector not being allowed to operate.
The manufacturing sector showed a decline of 0.2% in June after registering a growth of 29.8% in the previous month, said Datuk Lim Ban Hong, referring to data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia for the Industrial Production Index (IPI).
Among the main contributors to the decline was due to sectors that were not allowed to operate, which were transport equipment and other manufacturing, such as non -metallic minerals, wood, furniture, paper products, textiles, clothing and footwear.
Speaking on the government’s readiness to reopen the economic sector fully, he said the government through the National Rehabilitation Plan (NRP), had set indicators of daily Covid-19 case numbers and vaccination rates to enable the economic sector to operate.
To expedite the opening of manufacturing sub-sectors that have not yet been able to operate under phase one of the NRP, the government has also allowed such companies to operate with at least 40% of employees receiving two doses of vaccine.
