The onset of Movement Control Orders (MCO) announced by the Government effective March 18, 2020 has crippled almost all businesses in the country. With this, DSAM would like to thank the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs for their swift actions in granting approvals to our Members to conduct business via E-Commerce which is one of the sectors recognised under essential services during the MCOs. Arrangements between DSAM and MDTCA begun the very day MCO was enforced with the first approval received on March 24 onwards.

Throughout the various stages of MCO, the progressive introductions and amendments of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were also conveyed to Members through emails. These SOPs ranged from the initial approvals for Essential businesses to the latest SOP for hosting meetings, trainings, and seminars.

In preparing our Members to navigate through the MCO stages, more than 20 webinars were held in collaboration with Wong & Partners, Deloitte and Ernst & Young. DSAM would like to thank these professional bodies for their interpretations of the SOPs and insights into adjusting to the varying conditions of the MCOs.

A series of webinars was also organised by DSAM to provide alternatives for Members in adjusting to the new norms of post COVID-19. These webinars begun with the online meeting with Members on May 8 and proceeded with more specific topics such as those below.