The government is in talks with homegrown e-hailing company Grab to provide complementary transport services to commuters, the finance minister's political secretary Tony Pua revealed today.
“Now we have new ventures, new innovative digital technologies like Grab, who can help us defray the cost of some of the public transport expenditure.
“Why should you provide feeder buses if you can work with Grab?
“They can actually arrive and give door-to-door delivery from the MRT to commuters' homes at a reasonable price, and at a cost that will be cheaper than us (the government) supplying feeder buses,” he told a panel during the 'Malaysia: A new dawn' conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Pua further explained that the government was interested in pursuing similar public-private partnerships in government projects, especially those involving infrastructure.
“These are all openings and these are all avenues that the current government is exploring in order to manage our fiscal deficit and our debt.
"And at the very same time, solve many of our problems," he said.
Met by the press after, the Damansara MP confirmed that the government was indeed “in discussions” with Grab over the matter, but offered no further details.
Besides Pua, the 'New Malaysia: Forging ahead together' panel also comprised Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Bersatu policy and strategy bureau chairperson Rais Hussin, and former minister Rafizah Aziz.
The panel was moderated by Merdeka Center programme director Ibrahim Suffian. -Mkini
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