Malaysian retailers encouraged to expand overseas

Local Malaysian retailers are being encouraged to expand their retail footprints overseas. Reported in The Sunday Daily, the Malaysian retail sector is becoming increasingly crowded due to the rising disposable income of Malaysians and this in turn increases the demand for overseas brands. The Malaysian retail sector is expected to grow only by 5% in 2012 therefore; forward looking Malaysian retailers are expected to expand overseas to grow their business.

The entry of new foreign retailers is indeed spicing up the retail competition in Malaysia. Malaysians are now able to enjoy a wider variety of goods and services that were not available to them before. This is also forcing local retailers to innovate on how they go about doing their business in order to compete with these new companies. That being said, there is a need to expand overseas to make up for the loss in growth. The recent signing of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area is providing Malaysian retailers the perfect opportunity to expand into China.