AirAsia Foundation opened its first social enterprise hub, Destination: GOOD, at the weekend, marking a new milestone in its social entrepreneurship advocacy.
Located downtown Kuala Lumpur in the former Rex Cinema premises now called REXKL, Destination: GOOD retails more than 400 responsibly and ethically produced goods sourced from over 30 social enterprises from around ASEAN.
More than a shop, it aims to be an exchange that fosters collaboration between ASEAN social entrepreneurs and community-based enterprises.
“In the last seven years, we have awarded 24 grants to innovative ASEAN social enterprises to help them grow. We realised that to expand our reach, we needed to create broad-based platforms to speak to new markets and audiences. Through Destination: GOOD, we hope to do just that and make social enterprise goods and services accessible to anyone seeking sustainable travel and lifestyle solutions,” said AirAsia Foundation executive director Yap Mun Ching.
Malaysia’s Minister of Finance, YB Lim Guan Eng, joined AirAsia Group executive chairman Datuk Kamarudin Meranun and AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes at the opening ceremony.
Also present to share their stories were 10 of AirAsia Foundation’s Malaysian social enterprise partners, including The Basikal, Langit Collective and The Picha Project.
On the sidelines of the shop opening, AirAsia Foundation signed a Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with Kraftangan Malaysia to bring Malaysian crafts to a new audience and with Minconsult Sdn Bhd, the AirAsia philanthropic arm’s first corporate partner, to jointly fund social enterprise outreach activities in Kuala Lumpur. Over the past two years, AirAsia Foundation has operated Destination: GOOD as a pop-up store in various locations, including Kuala Lumpur International Airport (klia2). This is the first time the shop will have a permanent address in the city centre.