News & Articles Government urged to tackle rising business costs
Government urged to tackle rising business costs
18 Sep 2015
PUTRAJAYA: Bumiputra industry players, companies and associations are seeking government support to deal with the rising cost of doing business in the country, due to the weakening ringgit and implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Yesterday, the ringgit was quoted at 4.2550 against the dollar, weakening some 0.35% from 4.239 to the dollar on Wednesday.
“Of course when the currency depreciates, quite a number of raw materials and other items that are being sourced from overseas will naturally face cost increases,” the Minister of International Trade and Industry (Miti) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed told reporters after a networking session between the government agency and bumiputra non-governmental organisations (NGOs), associations and chambers of commerce here yesterday.
“The other (factor) is the GST, which also resulted in some price increases,” he added, noting that a majority of bumiputra companies are involved in the construction sector.
Mustapa, however, declined to comment further after being asked about the red-shirt rally on Wednesday.
The networking session was also attended by the Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan and Bumiputra Agenda Steering Unit (Teraju) CEO Husni Salleh.
Earlier, Mustapa said among other issues that were raised during the dialogue session include initiatives to help bumiputra small and medium enterprises (SMEs) grow their businesses, entrepreneurs entering the export market and big companies’ role in helping SMEs.
The networking session, which was attended by 47 associations and bumiputra NGOs, acts as a platform for the associations and bumiputra NGOs to share ideas to improve bumiputra businesses, as well as to get feedback on Miti’s entrepreneurship development programs.
It is part of Miti’s initiative to achieve the bumiputra economic empowerment agenda announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak on Sept 14, 2013.
Yesterday, the ringgit was quoted at 4.2550 against the dollar, weakening some 0.35% from 4.239 to the dollar on Wednesday.
“Of course when the currency depreciates, quite a number of raw materials and other items that are being sourced from overseas will naturally face cost increases,” the Minister of International Trade and Industry (Miti) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed told reporters after a networking session between the government agency and bumiputra non-governmental organisations (NGOs), associations and chambers of commerce here yesterday.
“The other (factor) is the GST, which also resulted in some price increases,” he added, noting that a majority of bumiputra companies are involved in the construction sector.
Mustapa, however, declined to comment further after being asked about the red-shirt rally on Wednesday.
The networking session was also attended by the Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan and Bumiputra Agenda Steering Unit (Teraju) CEO Husni Salleh.
Earlier, Mustapa said among other issues that were raised during the dialogue session include initiatives to help bumiputra small and medium enterprises (SMEs) grow their businesses, entrepreneurs entering the export market and big companies’ role in helping SMEs.
The networking session, which was attended by 47 associations and bumiputra NGOs, acts as a platform for the associations and bumiputra NGOs to share ideas to improve bumiputra businesses, as well as to get feedback on Miti’s entrepreneurship development programs.
It is part of Miti’s initiative to achieve the bumiputra economic empowerment agenda announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak on Sept 14, 2013.
Source: The Sun Daily