Malaysia’s MERAQUE Partners with AVIS Malaysia to Lease 100 Vehicles for Drone Solutions Growth

Shah Alam, 15 Mar 2023 - Meraque Group Sdn Bhd (Meraque) and  Avis Malaysia, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to strengthen the alliance between the two organisations to further catalyse the growth of Malaysia’s drone industry. The MOU sees AVIS Malaysia and Edaran Otomobil Nasional Bhd. (EON) providing 100 vehicles starting in 2023 to Meraque to support its nationwide drone solution operations.

The MOU was signed between Avis Malaysia’s Chief Operating Officer, Mohd Syahrul Bin Yusuf, and Meraque’s Chief Executive Officer, Md. Razalee Ismail, and witnessed by EON’s Chief Executive Officer, En. Akkbar Danial. This will facilitate Meraque’s drone operators nationwide to be deployed at sites carrying their hybrid drone sprayer, which will be used to carry out specific works over plantations or farmlands that are hard to reach.

“We have grown tremendously within these few years, despite pivoting our business during the COVID-19 pandemic. From a team of four to almost 200 and growing Meraque Aviators today, we will continue to scale as the demand for our solution continue to grow nationwide and regionally as well," said Razalee.

Meraque was established in 2018 as a facilities management company for building services and subsequently evolved to venture into other industries like agriculture, telecommunications, training, academies, and logistics. It is currently ranked 18th among drone technology service providers in 2022 by Drone Industry Insights, a market research consultant based in Germany. Meraque is targeting to penetrate more international markets in the next five to 10 years, as it now has a foothold in Indonesia, Philippines, Pakistan, and Cambodia.

Boasting a large market share for drone powered solutions in the Malaysian plantations sector, Meraque is looking to train and hire 200 talents by the end of 2023 to meet the growing demand of the drone industry in Malaysia. According to the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation’s (MOSTI) Malaysia Drone Technology Action Plan 2022-2030 (MDTAP30), the local drone industry is expected to contribute RM 50.71 billion to the country’s GDP and create 100,000 job opportunities by 2030.

Meraque has been actively involved in national drone initiatives, providing its services and expertise during flood relief operations, supporting drone schools and university programmes, as well as hiring programs for TVETs, retrenched workers, and rural youths.

Meraque continuously innovates its drone technology solutions, like the hybrid drones, which can be deployed for other crops such as rubber, corn, coconut, and others. Aside from agriculture, they are now actively doing telecommunications asset infrastructure inspection using drone-powered solutions to monitor their infrastructure and provide digital twin asset information for clients whose assets are located nationwide, where those in geographically challenging terrain and logistically hard to reach make it practical and convenient with the use of drone technology.