KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia is inviting foreign franchisors to make Malaysia their regional hub.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the rising prosperity of this region should make Malaysia an attractive place for foreign franchisors to launch their products and services into the new markets.
“Malaysia welcomes franchisors from within and outside the country to set up businesses. The enabling business environment and the pro-business government should convince you that Malaysia is an excellent choice as the hub to manage your investments.
“We believe that the healthy growth of the franchise business will help prosper the nation, benefiting not only businessmen, bankers, supporting service providers, as well as the government, citizens and consumers,” she said after launching the Franchise International Malaysia Exhibition and Conference 2019 (FIM2019) here today.
Also present were Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Malaysia Franchise Association president Datuk Radzali Hassan.
Dr Wan Azizah added that the government’s policy towards the franchise business also recognises the need and importance of supporting the development of home-grown franchisors as part of the overall development agenda in building domestic capability for wealth creation and prosperity.
Thus, she urged the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs and other related ministries and agencies to converge and put up a concerted effort to make Malaysia the franchise hub for ASEAN and the Middle-Eastern region.
Presently, about 9.0 per cent of home-grown franchises have established outlets overseas, namely in the ASEAN region, China, India, Australia and even the Middle Eastern countries.
Sixty-six Malaysian franchise brands have now penetrated 65 countries, compared with 12 brands to 12 countries in 2015.
The top five countries with Malaysian franchise penetration are Indonesia (21 brands) with an estimated franchise royalty value of US$120 million (US$1=RM4.087), Singapore (20 brands/US$135 million), China (19 brands/US$90 million), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) (15 brands/US$90 million), and India (12 brands/US$110 million).
More than 100 local and foreign franchise companies from the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, Turkey, the UAE, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Italy, Singapore, and Thailand are participating in the three-day event.
The FIM2019 aims to draw 12,000 visitors with RM400 million worth of potential investments.
NNN-BERNAMA
