Sojitz, a general trading company, announced that it has entered into a capital and business alliance agreement with Myanmar's City Mart Group (hereinafter referred to as the CM Group) to jointly develop a wholesale business of consumer goods and food products in Myanmar.
The CM Group is Myanmar's largest distribution group, owning 15 supermarkets, 5 mass retailers, and 20 convenience stores, mainly in Yangon. It also operates a wholesale business of consumer goods and food products in major cities such as Yangon, Mandalay, and Naypyidaw. In recent years, to meet the needs of a rapidly growing market, the group has been expanding its range of imported products, modernizing and streamlining its wholesale and logistics operations, and strengthening its cold chain.
The group's wholesale division, Premium Distribution Co., Ltd., has built a customer network of approximately 500 companies in Yangon and other areas. Sojitz and the CM Group will jointly invest in a new company in Singapore to procure consumer goods and food products for the group. Sojitz will leverage its network in Japan and within the ASEAN region to focus on sourcing imported products for the group's sales in Myanmar. In addition, Sojitz will lease wholesale and logistics-related systems to Premium Distribution, supporting the modernization and efficiency of its operations and the strengthening of its cold chain business. Even within the ever-growing ASEAN region, Myanmar is a promising market expected to develop rapidly. A new Foreign Investment Law was enacted last November, and the ASEAN market is scheduled to integrate under AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Area) in 2015, after which almost all tariffs in Myanmar are expected to be eliminated. Targeting a massive market of 60 million people, foreign companies from a variety of sectors have already expanded into the country.
Sojitz acquired Hung Thuy Manufacturing Service Trading Co., Ltd., a major Vietnamese food wholesaler, as a subsidiary in April last year, entering the country's food wholesale business. With this expansion into Myanmar, the company plans to further advance its diversified business development in ASEAN.
The CM Group is Myanmar's largest distribution group, owning 15 supermarkets, 5 mass retailers, and 20 convenience stores, mainly in Yangon. It also operates a wholesale business of consumer goods and food products in major cities such as Yangon, Mandalay, and Naypyidaw. In recent years, to meet the needs of a rapidly growing market, the group has been expanding its range of imported products, modernizing and streamlining its wholesale and logistics operations, and strengthening its cold chain.
The group's wholesale division, Premium Distribution Co., Ltd., has built a customer network of approximately 500 companies in Yangon and other areas. Sojitz and the CM Group will jointly invest in a new company in Singapore to procure consumer goods and food products for the group. Sojitz will leverage its network in Japan and within the ASEAN region to focus on sourcing imported products for the group's sales in Myanmar. In addition, Sojitz will lease wholesale and logistics-related systems to Premium Distribution, supporting the modernization and efficiency of its operations and the strengthening of its cold chain business. Even within the ever-growing ASEAN region, Myanmar is a promising market expected to develop rapidly. A new Foreign Investment Law was enacted last November, and the ASEAN market is scheduled to integrate under AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Area) in 2015, after which almost all tariffs in Myanmar are expected to be eliminated. Targeting a massive market of 60 million people, foreign companies from a variety of sectors have already expanded into the country.
Sojitz acquired Hung Thuy Manufacturing Service Trading Co., Ltd., a major Vietnamese food wholesaler, as a subsidiary in April last year, entering the country's food wholesale business. With this expansion into Myanmar, the company plans to further advance its diversified business development in ASEAN.
