KOTA KINABALU, July 1 — AirAsia, which has debuted its e-commerce super app food delivery and groceries shopping services in Sabah, aims to help boost the local economic recovery following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
AirAsia Group Bhd group chief executive officer (CEO) Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said the app’s expansion in Sabah starting with Kota Kinabalu will create more job opportunities, enabling local businesses to earn more through the low commission rates and offer consumers better value for their money.
He said it is also important for AirAsia to help local riders attached to the super app to get better income though better deals, while training and giving them better opportunities for job development.
“Sabah always has a special place in our heart, Sabah had been there for us since the beginning so we want to give a big impact to help the state...Sabah have so much good food, it is my dream to bring this food to Peninsular (Malaysia) and the world.
“So by doing this we can help food businesses especially small owners to expand their business, maybe open a kitchen in the peninsula or bring the food there, while helping the local farmers who produce the ingredients,” he told an online press conference during the launch of airasia super app for Sabah today.
Sabah Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun launched the super app virtually. Also present were AirAsia super app CEO Amanda Woo and Air Asia super app head of e-commerce Lim Ben-Jie.
Fernandes said launching airasia fresh in Kota Kinabalu complements the company’s bigger agriculture and logistics project for Sabah through airasia farm, business-to-business (B2B) platform connecting farmers directly to businesses, providing ideal ecosystem in terms of supply chain and distribution for fresh produce within the state and for export.
“We will soon have a 6,000-square feet warehouse by airasia farm up and running in Kota Kinabalu, serving as a three-in-one Agri Centre with cold chain facility, office space and a dedicated training area that will benefit local farmers and small and medium enterprises in Sabah to upskill and transform in the digital era,” he said.
Meanwhile, Masidi said, in facing the challenges of Covid-19 pandemic, business owners need to reinvent themselves and adapt to new technologies to survive.
“Everyone can do it, even people in rural areas with e-commerce, they can sell their products online, and people who have lost their jobs can go for online business which is more simple to set up compared to traditional business where we have to rent premises and others,” he said.
He also hoped more young entrepreneurs will take part in the airasia super app and e-commerce to build up the state’s economy, while also suggesting for the super app to carry a cooking recipe section to help the users cook the ingredients that they order.
Lim said Kota Kinabalu is the first destination for the super app and plans are in place to expand it to Tawau and Sandakan by year-end.
“We are pleased to offer merchants our zero listing fee policy as well as lowest commission rate of only 15 per cent on airasia food and 5.0 per cent on airasia fresh. We are currently hiring local drivers and delivery agents to join us to paint Kota Kinabalu red with our airasia delivery squad,” he said. — Bernama
