Malaysia Becoming More Popular Destination for Foreign Franchise Brands

KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is becoming a more popular destination for foreign franchise brands due to its business-friendly environment and policies, Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said. He said so far, 240 foreign franchise brands from 29 countries had been registered in Malaysia. This development, he said was in line with the objectives of the National Franchise Master Plan to develop Malaysia as the franchise hub for Southeast Asia by 2020. "The government welcomes the spread of foreign franchise brands to Malaysia, not only as a new market for their goods and services, but also in line with the government's aspiration to make Malaysia a regional hub for franchise companies," he said when opening the Franchise International Malaysia (FIM) Exhibition 2012 here on Friday. At the same time, Ismail Sabri said 46 Malaysian franchisors had also managed to penetrate the market in 50 countries, involving 1,413 outlets, so far. -- BERNAMA