REMBAU - McDonald's Malaysia aims to open 750 fast-food restaurants nationwide by 2030, creating various job opportunities for the public.
Its managing director and Local Operating Partner as well as the president of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) Malaysia, Datuk Azmir Jaafar, said that currently, it has 370 restaurants nationwide, with 32 new restaurants opened last year.
"This is the vision of McDonald's Malaysia, and we will do our best to ensure that it becomes a reality. In addition to focusing on locations in major cities. McDonald's is actively seeking opportunities to open our restaurants in suburban or rural areas.
"This is to provide easy access to our customers and broader job opportunities for the local community," he said during the opening ceremony of the McDonald's drive-thru in Rembau, officiated by the State Non-Islamic Affairs and Industry Committee chairman, Teo Kok Seong, today.
Azmir said that there are currently 20 McDonald's fast-food restaurants in Negeri Sembilan, and this year, three more restaurants are expected to open in Gemas, Rasah, and Mambau to meet customer demand.
He explained that one McDonald's restaurant provides 50 to 100 job opportunities for the local residents, not including vendors or local contractors involved in the construction or maintenance of the restaurant.
He clarified that the opening of new restaurants also directly creates opportunities for local people to learn new skills, thereby improving their economic status.
At the same time, Azmir added that despite the significant challenges faced by McDonald's Malaysia due to the ongoing boycott, they will continue to make every effort to provide the best assistance possible to those in need through various community activities.
"Every year, over 18,000 community activities are successfully organised to create a positive impact in society. Last October, which was also McDonald's Community Month and RMHC Month, we held birthday parties involving over 12,000 orphans from 400 orphanages nationwide," he said.
"Throughout December, McDonald's has been actively contributing food and daily necessities to flood victims on the East Coast to ease their burden," he added.
At today's event, McDonald's Malaysia and RMHC also presented Back-to-School packs worth RM120,000 to 800 primary school children from less privileged families in Negeri Sembilan.
Azmir said that since the introduction of this programme in 2017, a total of 157,000 children nationwide, including nearly 8,000 children in the state, have benefited from the programme.
They also contributed business tithe (zakat) payment for the previous year, totaling RM110,000, to the Negeri Sembilan State Islamic Religious Council (MAINS) for distribution to the asnaf (deserving recipients) in the state. Up to now, a total of RM651,000 in business zakat has been paid to Negeri Sembilan.
"McDonald's Malaysia began paying zakat in 2017 when it was taken over by Lionhorn Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of the Reza Group from Saudi Arabia, making McDonald's Malaysia a company fully owned by Muslims.
"When talking about our responsibility as Muslims, today we cannot avoid discussing the conflicts happening in Palestine. I express our support to those affected in Gaza through a contribution of RM1 million to the Palestinian Humanitarian Fund under the Prime Minister's Department recently.
He added that in addition to this, McDonald's staff throughout Malaysia also took the initiative to independently raise an additional RM100,000, donated to MyCARE to assist the people of Palestine. - BERNAMA