Malaysia is currently under a 14-day Movement Control Order starting this Wednesday (12 Jan 2021) until 26 Jan 2021 in order to slow the rise of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases. Unfortunately, all business premises except for essential services will be closed during the MCO period. This lead to confusion as to what businesses are allowed to stay open.
The government has categories 37 types of businesses in the five essential sectors allowed to operate during the MCO in six states as in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Melaka, Johor and Sabah. According to the International Trade and Industries Ministry (MITI) these are the 37 essential business that are allowed to open:
1. Industrial and manufacturing
- Aerospace including maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO)
- Automotive production and after-sales services
- Food and beverage and their chains
- Packaging and printing
- Household and personal care products (fast-moving consumer goods such as soap, personal hygiene, etc), washing detergent and its chains
- Healthcare and medical products including diet supplements
- Personal protective equipment (PPE) and fire safety equipment
- Medical equipment components
- Electrical and electronics
- Oil and gas
- Petrochemicals and related products
- Chemical products
- Machinery and equipment
- Ceramic (as moulds in hand gloves manufacturing)
- Iron and steel
- Textiles (for the manufacturing of PPE)
- Furniture
- Production, distillation, storage, supply and distribution of fuel and lubricants
2. Construction
- Building:-
- i. Critical maintenance and repair works
- ii. Major public infrastructure construction works
- iii. Construction works to provide complete accommodation for workers on construction sites or those housed in the central workers quarters (CLQ)
3. Services
- Financial services and their chains:-
- i. Financial institutions (Banking, insurance, takaful and other entities licensed, approved and registered with Bank Negara Malaysia)
- ii. Capital market entities licensed, registered or regulated by the Securities Commission Malaysia
- Municipal and local government services:-
- i. Mortgage/community credit (licensed moneylender companies)
- ii. Solid waste/sewerage management
- iii. Public cleaning
- iv. Premises cleaning and sanitation
- Telecommunication and digital infrastructure including ICT services and global business services (GBS)
- E-commerce and its chains include e-marketplace services, digital payments and local e-commerce internet centres
- Hotels and accommodations
- Agriculture, fisheries and livestock sectors include veterinary services:-
- i. Management of farms / swiftlet nests / horses / animal processing plants / slaughterhouses / livestock / livestock feed mills / vaccine suppliers / livestock management / pet shops (livestock transfer operations are at night)
- ii. Disease control and regulation of livestock production, livestock inputs and products related to the livestock industry (including exports and imports)
- iii. Health management, disease diagnosis and animal treatment
- Utilities (water and energy)
- Professional services (including accountants / lawyers / auditors / engineers / architects), scientific (including R&D) and technical (including maintenance)
- Security services
- Security and defence
- Land, water and air transportation
- Port and port services and operations, including cargo loading and unloading, shipping, storage or commodity shipping
4. Distribution
- Warehousing and logistics
- Food / beverage service / sale / delivery
- Retail / distribution / wholesale
5. Plantation and commodities
- Agriculture, fisheries and livestock and their chains
- Plantations and commodities and their chains
6. Miscellaneous
- Any service, work, industry and business as determined by the health minister after consultation with the authorities regulating the service, work, industry and business
For F&B outlets, they are allowed to stay open during MCO. However, it is only restricted to food delivery and takeaway. Customers are not allowed to dine-in in the restaurants.
Companies that have registered under CIMS do not need to register again
Miti said companies that have registered under its Covid-19 Intelligent Management System (CIMS) do not need to register again, but only download the notification of registration confirmation from https://notification.miti.gov.my beginning 3pm today.
The Prime Minister further said only 30% of employees in the management group were allowed to be in the office during the MCO period. He said the specified number of employees should take into account strict adherence to the stipulated standard operating procedures (SOPs).
For further information regarding the new SOPs, you may click here
Source here
