Meraque partner with DRB-HICOM Avis to lease 100 vehicles

Meraque Group Sdn Bhd (Meraque) and DRB-HICOM Berhad EZ-Drive Sdn Bhd (Avis), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today to strengthen the alliance between the two organizations with the aim to further catalyse the growth of Malaysian drone industry. The MOU sees DRB-HICOM’s through its subsidiaries, AVIS Malaysia and Edaran Otomobil Nasional (EON) providing 100 vehicles starting from 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 spray palm oil trees located within hard to reach areas and estates. 

“We have grown tremendously within these few years despite pivoting our business during the covid pandemic period. From a team of 4-four to almost 200 and growing, of strong Meraque Aviators today, we will continue to scale as the demand for our solution continuous to grow nationwide and regionally as well" said Razalee.

Meraque was established in 2018 as a Facilities Management Building Services and evolved to venture in other industries like agriculture, telecommunication, training, academy and logistics. It is currently ranked 18th in the Drone Technology Service Provider in 2022 by Drone Industry Insights, a Market Research consultant based in Germany. Meraque is targeting to penetrate more international markets in the next 5 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 Malaysia’s palm oil 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 Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation’s (MOSTI) Malaysia Drone Technology Action Plan 2022 -2030 (MDTAP30), the local drone industry is expected to generate RM 50.71 bil in GDP contribution 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 universities programs 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 terrains and logistically hard to reach makes it practical and convenient with the use of drone technology.