KUCHING, June 13 — The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Medac) will develop a delivery app similar to Grab Food and Foodpanda, said its minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar today.

He said the delivery app would cover various services, including food, goods as well as agriculture, fishery and livestock products specifically from rural areas to the towns, to facilitate transactions between buyers and sellers.

"For example, here in Sarawak there are groups delivering agriculture, fishery and livestock products but it’s not as widespread. We are also aware that there are not enough riders to cater to the higher demands.

"We are not competing against other delivery apps, such as Grab Food, Foodpanda, but we want to complement and create new job opportunities,” he said at a press conference after meeting the heads of agencies under the ministry here.

At the same time, Wan Junaidi said the Tabung Ekonomi Kumpulan Usaha Niaga (Tekun) Nasional also provided motorcycle loan financing to individuals planning to work as delivery riders.

"Tekun Nasional provides special loan facility up to RM10,000 to those interested to work as delivery riders for any food delivery companies, whether with Grab Food, Foodpanda or other companies and so far 200 riders have benefited from it,” he said.

As of June 10, Wan Junaidi said 27,644 entrepreneurs had benefited from all the financing facilities provided by Tekun this year, involving a total of RM257.9 million.

Meanwhile, speaking on the result of the meeting with the heads of agencies under the ministry, Wan Junaidi said several issues raised, such as the absence of bank branches in rural Sarawak, had been addressed.

"Market penetration by Tekun and Bank Rakyat will be further enhanced, especially in rural areas. I was informed that Bank Rakyat will provide mobile banking services in the rural areas and the Sarawak government also contributed to the fund to buy the bus to be used for this service.

"It’s understood that several other banks, such as Bank Simpanan Nasional, will also take part in providing such mobile services which will activate more economic activities (in these areas) where there are no banks for residents to save their money or invest in,” he said. — Bernama