The Thai Shopping Center Association (TSCA) has urged the government to launch immediate measures to help rehabilitate the business sector and reduce the impact of the pandemic.
The measures should focus on sustaining employment, promoting continuous investment, improving investor confidence in the long run, hastening mass vaccination for businesses and cutting expenses, said the group.
The association's statement called for malls and retail businesses to continue to support government initiatives and public health measures to ensure cleanliness and hygiene.
Nopporn Witoonchart, TSCA president and chairman of the executive committee of Siam Future Development Plc, said the association is ready to provide support to entrepreneurs who are tenants or partners of shopping centres, individuals of various professions, and those in the agricultural and tourism sectors, with the aim of helping all parties to survive the crisis together.
The association has already provided support measures worth over 200 billion baht, he said.
Wallaya Chirathivat, former TSCA president and deputy chief executive of Central Pattana Plc, said shopping centres and retail businesses have been directly affected as entrepreneurs are unable to generate incomes while there are expenses from managing and operating the businesses under strict public health measures.
To tackle the problems, TSCA would like to suggest the government launch four urgent measures.
1. Alleviate the burdens facing shopping centres caused by expenses from helping other businesses and retaining employment. The government can do so by allowing the shopping centres to deduct tax equal to twice the wages paid to employees and twice the rental discounts given to tenants.
2. Stimulate continuous investments in assets, buildings, machinery, equipment and maintenance by continuing last year's measure to allow tax deduction equal to twice the value of any asset of over one year old.
3. Rehabilitate businesses that were forced to close temporarily by the government's orders and allow businesses with over 70% of their employees vaccinated to open.
4. Reduce other expenses, such as extending the 90% land and building tax cut for another year, reducing electricity fees by 50%, exempting the sign tax and waiving rents of government land.
Additionally, as shopping centres need to fully understand all aspects and the necessity of government steps in order to provide the best support to tenants, the government should clearly define its plan to handle the situation into phases in which certain businesses will be allowed to open or required to close.
This will help businesses prepare in advance and reduce the impact from sudden changes in orders issued by the government, said the association in its statement.
In determining the phases, the government should employ clear indicators, such as the number of new infection cases, the percentage of fully vaccinated people among the population, and the capacity of hospitals and medical personnel. The government should also decide which businesses will be allowed to reopen in which phases and under which conditions while defining zones based on safety. This will boost entrepreneurs' morale and help them prepare and plan ahead for their businesses with regard to the phase and location, said the association.