The Franchise International Malaysia 2014 conference explores Malaysia’s retail market

The retail and food & beverage (F&B) sectors contributed MYR 434 billion to Malaysia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2013. In a bid to facilitate the contribution of franchising to retail growth, the Franchise International Malaysia 2014 Conference gathered industry professionals to share insights and explore opportunities within the local retail market.

Jeffrey Bahar, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, was amongst the guest speakers at the Franchise International Malaysia 2014 Conference held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In his presentation, Bahar emphasized the steady rise of Malaysia’s retail market.

Malaysia had seen impressive economic growth compared to its Asian neighbours; registering 6.2% real GDP growth in Q1 2014, while Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia reported -0.6%, 4.9%, 5.1% and 5.6% GDP growth respectively.

The retail sector had been a key contributor to this growth. The average Malaysian consumer still preferred to dine out which, together with tourist spending, caused F&B retail sales to hit MYR11.2 billion. In addition, the higher occupancy rate in retail space reflected rising demand for clothing and apparel retail. For instance, 44 million square feet was occupied in the Klang Valley alone in 2013.

Another driver of retail and F&B sales was tourism. Some 25 million tourists arrived in Malaysia annually. In 2014, the daily average foreign tourist spending was RM293 and RM172 on retail and F&B respectively.

Bahar projected that Malaysia’s retail sector would continue its forward momentum in the coming years. However, it remained to be seen whether this robust growth would outpace Malaysia’s Asian neighbours to enable it to become a regional hub for retail.

Jeffrey Bahar’s presentation deck on “Malaysia’s local retail market” can be found here.

https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/events/the-franchise-international-malaysia-2014-conference-explores-malaysias-retail-market/

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