UAE based retail major LuLu Group further consolidates its retail presence in the Far Eastern by opening the first LuLu mall with hypermarket in Malaysia. The 250,000 sq. ft. hypermarket was inaugurated by the Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Sri Najib Tun Razak in the presence of Dato Sri Dr. Ahmed Zahid Hamidi, Dy. Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture, government officials, ambassadors of UAE and High Commission of India and other dignitaries. The group had recently announced its plans to invest $300 million (RM1.3 billion) as part of its expansion and intends set up 10 hypermarkets in the next 5 years in the country. The new hypermarket is ideally located in the CapSqaure, Jalan Munshi area of Kuala Lumpur is expected to be one of its kind in the country and will attract large segment of population from all walks of life with its attractive product offers and range. The new hypermarket is spread in 3 levels and combines everything from grocery and supermarkets products to fashion, household and latest electronics & gadgets. Hot food from around the world, fresh seafood and locally grown produce are some of the key highlights in the supermarket area. Prime Minister Najeeb Razak said "we are very pleased to welcome LuLu brand to Malaysia as this will pave way for more international brands to come and invest in Malaysia. I am also hopeful that Lulu will surely open many more hypermarkets and malls not only in Kuala Lumpur but also in other parts of Malaysia." "With an initial investment of $300 million in the first phase, we plan to open 10 hypermarkets by end-2021 and a central logistics and warehousing facility in Malaysia. These projects are likely to generate more than 5,000 job opportunities for Malaysians," said Yusuff Ali MA, Chairman, LuLu Group while commenting about the first Lulu hypermarket in the country. "We also plan to set up contract farming to ensure continuous supply of high quality products and to support the Malaysian agriculture sector," he added. "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 and our hypermarkets encompass both supermarket and department store formats and we intend to bring a whole new world of shopping to the residents of Malaysia." He added that other hypermarkets would be opening in Kota Baru (Kelantan), Shah Alam (Selangor), Johar Baru, Bangi, Ipoh (Perak), Malacca, Penang and Kuala Terengganu. Apart from the 10 hypermarkets which are already planned, Yusuffali also announced the group's plan to invest another $500 million in setting up the largest shopping mall in Malaysia. During his official visit to UAE in 2014, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato Sri Najeeb Razak had visited Lulu hypermarket in Abu Dhabi and expressed keen desire to have Lulu in Malaysia. He was especially impressed by the high standards of operations, quality of products & service and also the wide variety of products available in LuLu. The LuLu Group currently operates 126 stores across the GCC, Egypt, India, Indonesia and employees more than 38,000 people from different nationalities and is also the one of the largest retail chain in the Middle East. It is also ranked by Deloitte as one of the top 10 fastest growing retailers in the world. — SG
