Grab will be expanding to more rural cities and townships in the Southern and Northern regions of Malaysia.
The expansion includes Mersing, Segamat, Cameron Highlands, Pantai Remis and Baling.
The expansion is part of the ride hailing service’s ongoing journey to not only cater to daily needs of Malaysians and at the same time create further opportunities for gig workers and businesses to grow, and strike a balance to sustain the industry.
The expansion plan will see GrabCar being available in Mersing and Segamat from the end September 2020 onwards followed by GrabFood and GrabMart services (which are 100 percent cashless with GrabPay) planned to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year. In the Northern region, Grab will be covering cities such as Cameron Highlands, Pantai Remis and Baling.
This is part Grab’s efforts to ensure no one is left behind in the digital economy especially in rural communities where median incomes are 41 percent less than median incomes of the urban population[1] according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).
“As a proponent of the digital economy, we are proud to bring our technology to these communities to provide Malaysians with more safe, reliable and affordable solutions. At the same time, we are creating more income opportunities across our wide ecosystem of services that includes transport, food and mart especially in the rural areas. With this expansion, we also look forward to working with local councils and partners to further support the economic activities in these areas, so they are empowered to thrive in the digital economy” said Ben Chin, Head of Outer Cities, Grab Malaysia.
Grab has also extended their “Pakej Pikul Bersama” initiative to include new driver-partners on the platform by providing a one-off reimbursements up to RM 120 for their PSV licenses and RM 70 for initial PUSPAKOM vehicle inspections. The “Pakej Pikul Bersama” initiative is designed to help driver-partners get through the regulations process when it was first announced by the Ministry of Transport in 2019.
With 1 in 70 people in Southeast Asia earning an income through the Grab platform, Grab is aiming to play a bigger role in supporting and creating more income opportunities for Malaysians across the country. Grab has also taken serious consideration into the welfare of their partners and have implemented a first-of-its-kind benefits programme for Malaysia’s gig economy to help partners across the ecosystem improve their welfare. Moving forward, with the introduction of other Grab services such as GrabFood and GrabMart in the coming months, which will help further increase business and income opportunities for all across the country.
“We hope that these expansion initiatives will help ensure a fair and inclusive gig economy while realising our nation’s vision for a more robust digital economy in the new normal” concluded Ben.
