The leading retail company in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region, LuLu Group has ambitious plans for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as the country opens to foreign investment and welcomes investors from across the globe. This was disclosed by Yusuff Ali MA, chairman of LuLu while attending the India Saudi Business Forum meeting in Delhi on the sidelines of the official visit of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman. Elaborating on the group's expansion plans, Yusuff Ali said, "We are upbeat about the vast investment opportunities laid open in the Kingdom, thanks to the Kingdom's Vision 2030. We have already announced that as part of our expansion plans, 15 new hypermarkets will be opened in the Kingdom by 2020 at an investment of SR1 billion." "This is apart from the SR1 billion that we have already invested in the Kingdom till now," he added. "Recently, we have signed an agreement with the Saudi Arabian National Guard to open two shopping centers and seven supermarkets in Dammam and Al Ahsa which will further generate sizable employment for local Saudi youth and serve the National Guard officials and their families in best possible manner. Works are in full swing to open three stores in National Guard campus before the end of 2019," he said. Apart from the retail expansion, LuLu group is also investing another SR200 million in setting up one million square feet state-of-the-art wholesale and logistics center in King Abdulla Economic City (KAEC) to support the retail expansion to help in ensuring food security. LuLu Group currently employs more than 2,700 Saudi nationals including females in their various hypermarkets across the Kingdom. "Our goal is to give employment to more than 5,000 nationals by the end of 2020," added Yusuff Ali. Yusuff Ali also attended an official lunch banquet hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in honor of Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman at Hyderabad House in New Delhi. — SG
