The Middle Eastern retail major LuLu Group is in the final stages of starting its operations in Malaysia with the first hypermarket slated to open in February 2016 in Kuala Lumpur city (Jalan Munshi Abdullah). Elaborating on the group's plan during the official luncheon hosted by the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in honor of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kuala Lumpur recently, Yusuffali MA, chairman and managing director of LuLu Group said, "We plan to initially invest RM 1.3 billion ($300 million) in rolling out 10 hypermarkets in the next 2 years and gradually expand to all parts of Malaysia. Today the whole world knows about Malaysia's economic stability, investor friendly approach, liberalized policies and world-class infrastructure and we are confident about our success here." LuLu, which currently operates 118 hypermarkets and shopping malls in the Middle East and India, is known for its world-class shopping experience, highest quality products, competitive prices and excellent customer service. As per the Deloitte worldwide ranking LuLu is among the top 10 fastest growing retailer in the world. "Our hypermarkets encompass both supermarket & department store formats and we intend to bring a whole new world of shopping to the residents of Malaysia. Globally, we employ more than 35,000 people from different nations and our projects here will provide 5,000 employment to Malaysians. To better equip Malaysian citizens employed by us, we will train them in all our hypermarkets here and will also take them to our other outlets in the Middle East," Yusuffali said. During the Malaysian Prime Minister's visit to UAE last year, the premier had personally visited LuLu Hypermarket in Abu Dhabi and had shown much appreciation for store quality, product range and especially the various Malaysian products being sold there. LuLu is also one of the biggest importers of Malaysian agricultural products and non-food products to the Middle East. Agreements have already been finalized with prominent retail developers such as Greenhill Resources Sdn Bhd (Setia City Mall), KLIA Properties (for their new project in Bangi), PNB Commerce (Perling Mall in Johar Baru) and other hypermarkets will come up in Kalandhan Kotabaru, Shaa Aalam, Ippoh, Malaka, Penang and Kuala Tringanu. "Works of other hypermarkets have already started with some having completed 60% and some others 70%" he added. Discussions are also progressing with Federal Land Development Authority of Malaysia (FELDA) for projects in other parts of the country.
