Grab contributes 5.45 bln USD to Indonesian economy. (Photo: thejakartapost.com) Jakarta (VNA) - Ride-hailing firm Grab Indonesia contributed 77.4 trillion rupiah (5.45 billion USD) to the Indonesian economy last year, largely thanks to its food delivery service, while providing gig work for the country’s informal workers, according to a research conducted by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Tenggara Strategics.
The research revealed that the biggest source of Grab’s contributions to the economy came from its food delivery service GrabFood, which contributed 37.3 trillion rupiah of the total 77.4 trillion rupiah. The overall 2019 figure marks a 58.3 percent increase from the firm’s 48.9 trillion rupiah in 2018.
The data was calculated based on the incomes of more than 5,000 surveyed Grab partners and merchants before and after joining Grab, across its four services – motorcycle taxi service GrabBike, ride-hailing service GrabCar, GrabFood and merchant GrabKios.
“As Indonesia starts to move past COVID-19, we believe that platforms like Grab and the gig economy can support the country on its road to recovery,” the Jakarta Post newspaper quoted Riyadi Suparno, executive director of Tenggara Strategics, as saying.
With the economic downturn as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts have warned that the country’s 70.49 million informal workers, the majority of the Indonesian workforce, are considered the most vulnerable. Motorcycle taxi drivers association Two-Wheeled Action Movement (Garda) reported a 70 percent decrease in drivers’ daily earnings during the pandemic.
However, the research notes that Grab has provided earning opportunities for those dealing with unemployment, like in 2019, when 31 percent of GrabBike and 26 percent of GrabCar partners had no income prior to joining Grab.
The company’s digital platform would also aid the merchant-partners’ transition to a post-pandemic economy, Riyadi stated.
Being digital-ready will be more important than ever in the new normal. Grab can help businesses adapt by making the shift online through services like GrabFood and GrabKios, Riyadi added.
Earlier this month, Grab Indonesia introduced a new app called GrabMerchant, aimed as a one-stop service platform that allows micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), including those in food and beverage, to digitally manage their operational hours, orders, employees, as well as menus and promotions.
Meanwhile, the head of the CSIS department of economics, Yose Rizal Damuri, noted that Grab, as a digital platform, played a supporting role during the large-scale social restrictions (PSBB).
Tenggara Strategics researcher Stella Kusumawardhani said that, based on the 2019 findings, GrabFood also helped small businesses expand at minimal cost.
In 2019, the research found that GrabFood merchant-partners saw their monthly sales increase by 35 percent to 49.6 million rupiah per month from the average of 36.7 million rupiah per month in 2018./.
VNA
