S'pore consultancy to bring 50 global brands into country

FE Report

Singapore-based consulting firm FranGlobal on Saturday formally launched its operations in Bangladesh aiming to help local and global franchises expand their businesses into new regions.

The firm expects to bring over 50 global brands in Bangladesh in the next two years creating an investment opportunity for $39 million.

The launching ceremony was held at a city hotel on Saturday, when a day-long 'International franchise and retail expo' also took place.

President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Md. Shafiul Islam (Mohiuddin) attended the opening ceremony as the chief guest. President of the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) Selima Ahmad, president of the National Association of Small Cottage Industries of Bangladesh (NASCIB) Mirza Nurul Ghani Shovon, and the Chairman of FranGlobal Gaurav Marya, attended the function among others.

In his speech, Mr Ghani said that Bangladesh is one of the densely-populated countries with more than 160 million people, which brings good opportunity for businesses.

"Bangladesh is now-a-days a name of possibility and opportunity in every sector," he said.

In her speech, Selima Ahmad said that franchise is an identity of a country nowadays.

She also said entrepreneurs needed to widen the business opportunities through franchise in the present globalised world.

Addressing the conference, Mr Marya said according to estimations by several global research firms, Bangladesh would be one of the fastest-growing economies by 2030.

"Considering the huge business opportunities in Bangladesh, many multinational companies are looking for scopes to expand in Bangladesh," he said.

Mr Gaurav said the size of global franchise businesses was around $ 4.0 trillion.

He also said FranGlobal's operations in Bangladesh would also help local brands expand their businesses to other countries.

Mr Gaurav hoped his company would bring around 50 franchises in Bangladesh within the next two years, and would invest around $39 million creating 2,500 new jobs. Meanwhile, nearly a hundred multinational brands from the USA, the UK, Italy, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and India took part in the day-long expo to find business partners in Bangladesh. The event was sponsored by Monno Home.

bdnews24.com adds: The Monno Group, which dominates the ceramic products business in Bangladesh, says it is seeking to franchise and begin retailing at 'fair prices for customers'.

"After changing hands, the prices for our products go up. But if we could maintain our own network, then people would know our products are not as expensive as they are now," said Rasheed Mymunul Islam, deputy managing director of Monno Group of Industries.

He said the company's ceramic products were now at different prices in different markets as there was no fixed maximum retail price.

He told the news agency on the sidelines of the franchise expo in Dhaka on Saturday.

'Monno Home', which is the name of the Monno Group's new retail venture, supported the franchise expo organised by the Singapore-based franchise consultancy firm FranGlobal.

Mymunul Islam, who is also a director of Bangladesh Ceramics Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said Bangladesh was a Tk 3.0 billion market for ceramic products and continued to grow. Monno dominates the market with 40 per cent market share.

"We have eight ceramics companies in the country, but we cannot meet the local demand. The demand is growing every day," he said, adding that they are planning to increase their production capacity almost double by next year.

"Now we produce 1.5 million pieces of both porcelain and bone china products a year. I hope by March next year it will be 2.5 million pieces".

But he said pricing was a big challenge that drove them to enter the retail market.

"We sell our products wholesale to dealers. Then dealers sell those to retailers after keeping a margin. And again retailers sell those to the customers keeping their own profit.

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