KUALA LUMPUR: The qualitative impact on Malaysia's reputation, credibility and long term prospects of the small-medium enterprises (SMEs) are critical to the country beyond profits, losses and tax collected.
As such, the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce's (AMCHAM) calls on all stakeholders to look forward to addressing the long and arduous journey of rebuilding credibility, which necessitates immediate action.
Chief executive officer Siobhan Das said the loss of a supplier that is an integral part of the company's supply chain can be devastating and ripple across boundaries.
"A multinational corporation (MNC) would have spent years and money developing and training a vendor, and their personnel, to work to global standards to insert them into their supply chain.
"If the SME goes out of business or if an MNC loses a production line or a contract, a gap could appear in what was a robust ecosystem," she told the New Straits Times.
Das said the loss s not just in jobs but also in the skillset and opportunity for these highly skilled SMEs and trained workers.
"What has happened and continue to happen will resonate in the boardrooms and senior executive planning sessions long after we've achieved herd immunity. In addition, reputation damage has been done," she said.
However, Das said this could be undertaken by laying out comprehensive standard operating procedures (SOP) for the economic sector that is based on shared responsibility anchored on detection and isolation, and to work on policies for supply chain protection and resilience that all stakeholders own, be it the private sector and the public sector.
She said this will demonstrate the Malaysian government's commitment to working with the industry closer than ever while ensuring AMCHAM members do not go through this painful experience ever again.
"Continuous engagement is what is needed so that we can both support each other to get Malaysia back on even ground.
"We have good engagements today but often very late in the decision-making process and therefore sometimes limited in success. Engagement must move beyond 'meetings held' and into a substantive regular dialogue.
"We need stronger working mechanisms with the international investment community in all sectors," she said.
Das said American MNCs are required to operate at the highest levels of safety and compliance to health protocols particularly, citing that there is no compromise regarding its ability to function as part of the global supply chain.
"We have also made it abundantly clear that the supply chain in Malaysia, which is primarily, if not exclusively, made up of Malaysian SMEs who provide products and services into our operations and are by association, part of that global supply chain too.
"To win business and be incorporated into an American supply chain, they have to comply with the rigorous standards imposed on them by corporate headquarters back in the United States.
"Repercussions to the country falling off that value chain, be it as a locally-based MNC or the connected supply chain, could be felt by Malaysia for years to come. This is why we are working to ensure Malaysia remains open, as an exporter, as a committed part of the value chain," she added.
AMCHAM said most of its companies have close to 90 per cent Malaysian workforce, and many up to 100 per cent.
"Commitment to the recruitment and training of local talent has not only spawned a couple of generations of the skilled workforce but also accelerated many Malaysians into the global talent pool," she added.
AMCHAM comprises more than 1,200 members representing about 280 American, Malaysian, and other international companies.