Fast Retailing aims to triple Asean countries' share of sales

[SINGAPORE] Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing Co Ltd wants to increase sales in Asean countries to 30 per cent of its total global sales in the next five to 10 years, its chief executive said on Thursday.

That would amount to a tripling of the Asean region's share of the firm's global sales compared with current levels, Tadashi Yanai, Chairman, President and CEO of Fast Retailing, told reporters.

"I think it will reach around 30 per cent," Mr Yanai said. "So we want to triple the percentage."

"Asean countries are going to grow from here on. They hardly own our clothing and I don't think there has been a sufficient supply of clothing," Mr Yanai said.

Mr Yanai was speaking at a media briefing ahead of the launch on Friday of a new Uniqlo store on Singapore's Orchard Road shopping district. The store will be the 14th such "global flagship" Uniqlo store to be opened worldwide and the first in Southeast Asia.

"We think southeast Asia is a growth centre," Mr Yanai said, adding that Singapore was not only the centre of southeast Asia, but a gateway to south and western Asia.

REUTERS