KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Retail Chain Association (MRCA) has called on the government to consider the association’s involvement in implementing the Sales and Service Tax (SST) and charting the direction of the retail industry.
MRCA president Datuk Seri Garry Chua Kah Seng said the MRCA has over 470 members involving 30,000 retail outlets and is among major associations in the local industry.
Chua said since the zero-rated Goods and Services Tax (GST) was implemented, it has seen some robust sales growth but the projection needs to be relooked after the SST implementation.
"The abolition of the GST has had a huge impact on the retail industry with increased purchases among consumers. However, we still have to wait for SST implementation.
"The MRCA expects the SST to be implemented soon will still be positive and is confident with the government's direction in easing consumers’ burden.
"Prices are expected to remain low but the government needs to involve us in the discussion especially on the retail industry.
"To date, the Council of Eminent Persons has yet to meet with us and the MRCA is expecting a meeting for the sake of the retail industry’s direction moving forward," he said at a press conference on the MRCA Committee 2018-2020 here today.
On the workforce issue, Chua urged the government to reconsider its foreign workers policy especially in the food and manufacturing sector.
He said the manufacturing sector was dependent on many other external factors such as the ringgit rate, taxation and raw material cost.
Meanwhile, Chua projected the retail industry to grow four per cent, following the industry's positive growth so far this year.
He said the increase was also supported by the implementation of the zero-rated GST.
He said the retail industry has grown over the last year as the digital retail initiatives introduced by the MRCA strengthened further.
"The zero-rated GST has played a significant role in increasing the retail industry sales and from the MRCA members’ feedback, we can see a positive increase.
"With digital retail initiatives coming into place in which most of our members have switched to e-commerce, we can see a boost in the sales forecast.
"We cannot deny the emergence of e-commerce and MRCA itself always encourages retailers to see the potential in e-commerce. We need to move in tandem with the growth of the retail industry evenly and steadily, "he said.
Chua said, in line with the MRCA's direction in a cross-border retail plan, it expects the franchise industry to grow 30 per cent by 2020. This is because the franchise industry has the potential to grow not only locally but also internationally.
He hopes to work with Malaysia's tourism industry to bring more foreign tourists into the country.
"I always emphasise the importance of the tourism industry to the national retail sector as it can help improve this industry indirectly.
"If there is an increase of one million foreign tourists, it will also help increase sales of the retail industry. More purchasing power can be improved," he said.