UAE-based retail major LuLu Group has opened its first hypermarket in Indonesia with plans to invest $500mn in the country within the next three years as part of its global expansion strategy.
Located in the Cakung sub district of East Jakarta with an area of over 200,000sq ft, the new hypermarket is designed for customer convenience and provides a one-stop shopping destination for the residents of the city.
It was inaugurated by Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia in the presence of Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, governor of Jakarta; Thomas Trikasih Lembong, Indonesian Trade Minister; Ahmed Abdullah al-Mussali al-Awadi, UAE ambassador to Indonesia; Husin Bagis, Indonesian ambassador to UAE and other ministers, government officials, members of business community and a large gathering of residents.
“With an initial investment of $300mn in the first phase, we plan to open 10 hypermarkets by end-2017 and a central logistics and warehousing facility in Jakarta. These projects are likely to generate more than 5,000 job opportunities for Indonesians,” Yusuffali M A, chairman, LuLu Group, said.
The group also has plans to set up contract farming to ensure continuous supply of high-quality products and to support the Indonesian agriculture sector, he added.
During the official visit to UAE last year, Widodo had visited the LuLu hypermarket in Abu Dhabi and expressed keen desire to have a LuLu in Indonesia.
The LuLu Group currently operates 125 stores across the Gulf Cooperation Council, Egypt and India and employees more than 38,000 people from different nationalities and is also the one of the largest retail chain in the Middle East.