BD among our next growth stars, says Unilever CEO

Bangladesh along with Vietnam, Pakistan and Myanmar will be the top growth markets for consumer goods giant Unilever over the next few years as a rapidly growing population and an emerging middle class rapidly consume the company's household good products, Chief Executive Officer Alan Jope said, reports Reuters.

"The combination of quite a big population, strong GDP growth and rapid consumption in the categories we sell means that countries like Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar and even

Ethiopia will be our growth stars over the next few years," Jope told the Deutsche Bank Global Consumer conference in Paris.

"These are going to be very important for the future and we are investing heavily," he said.

Unilever, which makes household goods ranging from Dove soaps to Knorr packet soups, reported a 5 per cent jump in emerging market sales in its latest reported quarter, compared to a 0.3 per cent rise in its big developed markets.

The company already gets 58 per cent of its sales from emerging markets including China, India and Brazil.