Malaysia-based Zhulian Corp Bhd, an investment holding company, will enter Myanmar market by the third quarter of this year as part of the group’s overseas market expansion.
Group managing director Teoh Meng Keat said Myanmar is touted as the new frontier market amongst emerging countries in terms of the consumer segment and has appointed a local master agent to oversee the business there.
He said due to local laws limiting company ownership, the group will export its products directly to the master agent, who will then sell it to locals.
“We will continue to expand our overseas market to overcome escalating raw material prices, increasing operating costs, stiff market competition and reduced consumer confidence in spending,” he told reporters after the group’s annual general meeting, Malaysian news agencies reported.
He said the group also plans to channel investments towards increasing the production capacity in line with the objective of growing the business by extending the scale and capability of its food and beverages manufacturing division.
The group sales ratio is mostly exports at 57 percent to Thailand, 38 percent local, four percent to Indonesia and one percent to Singapore.
However, Teoh said the group had allocated RM35 million ($10.86 million) as capital expenditure (capex) for the next 12 months.
From dealing with only a small range of gold plated jewellery, Zhulian today has diversified its product lines into home care, food and beverages, nutritional supplements, personal care, cosmetics, air and water treatment, sleep enhancement and disposable hygiene products.
Currently, Zhulian has about 569,709 distributors and 326 agents in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.
