THE country’s three main economic sectors, namely manufacturing, construction and agriculture that have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, have gradually recovered, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mustapa Mohamed.

He said even though the private construction sector is still struggling, works for government projects that had restarted had enabled many construction companies to continue their operations.

“On the whole, Malaysia’s economy is still facing challenges but there are already signs of recovery,” he told a media conference after holding a meeting with the Regional Corridor Development Authority (Recoda) and the business community in Kuching, Sarawak today.

Mustapa said the tourism and other services sectors including professional services and retail sector were adversely affected during the pandemic.

According to him, although domestic tourism had shown a slight recovery, it cannot recover completely as international tourism is still in the doldrums.

Besides that, he said the unemployment rate in May had also recovered slightly, registering 5.3% at the national level, and this is expected to continue recovering this month.

Meanwhile, Mustapa said he is confident that the progress in Sarawak as well as the good cooperation between the state and federal governments will lead to bigger development.

He said Sarawak’s focus is on digital economy and environmental sustainability, which are the mainstay of the state’s development.

“The Sarawak government has provided incentives and packages worth RM2.5 billion to help the people, especially the B40 group and small and medium enterprises in the state, making it the biggest package offered compared to other states,” he said.

Additionally, he said, the Sarawak government had development plans for cross-border trade with Indonesia and Brunei, which has huge potential, when Indonesia relocates its capital city from Jakarta to East Kalimantan.

“Foreign companies, including from Japan and China, will increase their investments in this state, which means the investment sector in the state will expand rapidly,” said Mustapa. – Bernama, July 18, 2020.