More grants would boost domestic trade, govt told

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PETALING JAYA: There is a need to set aside more grants to further boost local businesses and increase domestic trade, says Malaysia Retail Chain Association.

Its president Datuk Seri Garry Chua Kah Seng opined that for starters, the government should release grants for existing businesses.

“There should be more allocations to boost tourism on the domestic front, and this will, in return, boost domestic trade,” said Chua.

Urban poor watchdog Initiative for Malaysian Humanitarian said while there were funds for start-ups and small businesses under Budget 2019, there was nothing much for the urban poor, who might be keen on setting up their own business.

“There seems to be quite a number of mentions in providing living allowance assistance.

“Does this assist in setting up side businesses for the urban poor?

“Even those who earn RM4,500 in the big cities would still fall into the ‘hardcore poor category’ if we were to use proper measuring tools to measure poverty,” said its chief Azan Safar.

He called for a relook into the mechanism for the handouts of these funds and living allowance assistance.