The Penang State Government welcomes the initiative by Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (CREST) to introduce access to Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) from CREST member companies and a consolidated Covid-19 Management Best Practice SOP, as a reference with the aim of assisting small medium enterprises (SMEs) in the state to operate safely and optimally.
In conjunction with the announcement, a focus group headed by Dato’ Hj Abdul Halim Hussain, Penang State Exco for Trade, Industry & Entrepreneur Development will lead this initiative under the patronage of the Penang State Government by providing advisory support to SMEs in the state of Penang to combat the spread of Covid-19.
The focus group will play an instrumental role as a channel of communication between state authorities and the industries for matters related to Covid-19 control plans and procedures to ensure operational safety of businesses.
The focus group will consist of representatives from CREST and its member companies, the Penang Covid-19 Immunisation Focus Group, Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF), Ministry of International Trade (MITI) Penang,Invest Penang, Penang Development Corporation and Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers.
“It is imperative that the Penang State Government collaborates with the industries and relevant organizations to ensure a more targeted approach in implementing SOPs within the business community. This is in addition to setting proper governance in managing operational procedures and ensuring that all SMEs are able to operate during this period of MCO and the threat of Covid-19,” said YAB Chow Kon Yeow, Chief Minister of Penang.
“I commend CREST and its industry leaders for championing this initiative and I am confident that the Covid-19 Management Best Practice SOP will raise the level of Covid-19 management among SMEs and businesses in Penang,” he added.
The Covid-19 Management Best Practice SOP is set to benefit many SMEs in the state of Penang.
“Most of these SMEs form the backbone of the E&E industry, a catalytic sector that cuts across many industries, particularly in producing parts and components for medical devices, enterprise storage, cloud computing and other technological innovation. Therefore, it is critical that we ensure that proper measures are put in place to ascertain continuity of our supply chain,” said Chow in a virtual press conference.