Lulu Group now serving Far East with opening of Jakarta hypermarket

Abu Dhabi - $500m to be invested for 10 more outlets in Indonesia; 5,000 jobs to be created

UAE-based retail major Lulu Group marked its first retail push in the Far East by opening its first hypermarket in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.
The group has already announced its plans to invest $500 million as part of its expansion and intends set up 10 hypermarkets in the next three years in the country.
The first hypermarket of the country was officially inaugurated by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in the presence of Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, Indonesian Trade Minister Thomas Trikasih Lembong, UAE Ambassador to Indonesia, Ahmed Abdullah Al Mussali Al Awadi, Indonesian Ambassador to the UAE Husin Bagis and other ministers, government officials, members of the business community and a large gathering of residents.
The hypermarket is expected to be one-of-a-kind in the region and will attract a large segment of population in Jakarta. Located in the Cakung sub-district of East Jakarta with an area of over 200,000 sqft, the new hypermarket is designed for customer convenience and provides a one-stop shopping destination for the residents of the city.
"With an initial investment of $300 million 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," said Yusuffali M.A., chairman of Lulu Group.
"We also plan 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 the UAE last year, Widodo had visited Lulu hypermarket in Abu Dhabi and expressed a keen desire to have Lulu in Indonesia.
Jokowi, as the Indonesian leader is called, was especially impressed by the high standards of operations, quality of products and service, and also the wide variety of products available in Lulu.
Lulu Group currently operates 125 stores across the GCC, Egypt and India and employs more than 38,000 people from different nationalities and is also the one of the largest retail chains in the Middle East. 
With the latest opening in Cakung, the retail group has a network of 126th hypermarkets in the Mena and Southeast Asia.
The new outlet is part of 10 hypermarkets that the group plans to open in Indonesian cities of Bandung, Solo, Semarag, Surabaya and Yogya karta, which will provide jobs to 5,000 Indonesians in the next three years.
- haseeb@khaleejtimes.com