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PENANG: The government is looking to support Malaysian premium brands, according to Pemandu (Performance Management and Delivery Unit) director for wholesale and retail Ravindran Devagunam at the reopening of the British India store in Gurney Plaza on Monday.
“We have an ETP [Economic Transformation Programme] for an initiative called ‘Foreign Brand Acquisition’ in which we are looking to modify next year and to work with people like CIMB and a few other private entities that have come forward to work with us, to see what we can do to raise awareness among Malaysians and help some [Malaysian] premium brands go overseas and reap the benefits.”
The strategy, according Ravindran, is to call for a small lab of premium Malaysian brands to come together with financial institutions and a few other agencies to see what the government can do to support them in January.
The reopening of the British India store in Penang was officiated by Domestic Trade, Co-operative and Consumerism Minister Datuk Hasan Malek. The store now has a bigger and more prominent frontage visible from Gurney Drive and is about 6,500 sq ft.
According to a joint statement by British India founder and group CEO Pat Liew and CEO Rhoda Yap, the reopening of the store is more than just a makeover and is a concerted effort to promote Malaysian brands with an international flavour.
“As Malaysia moves along in its journey to be a developed nation, an area that has been overlooked is the role of premium brands in nation building,” they said.
“Branding depicts a country’s maturity to the world. For Malaysia to have developed brands high on the value chain focusing on creativity, and with proven commercial viability, is evidence that the country is moving towards a developed nation.
“In retail branding, location is paramount and positioning our brands within appropriate agencies will make Malaysian brands to be on par with international brands. That is why British India anchoring the entrance of Gurney Plaza — one of the best retail locations in Penang — is one form of testament to our nation’s development,” they added.
Gurney Plaza centre manager Lawrence Teh said, “British India managed to take the recent opportunity to reconfigure its unit to a larger size and refurbish the outlet to suit the premier positioning of our ground floor. We are pleased that a homegrown Malaysian brand is able to appeal to our shoppers, both local and tourists. In addition to British India, there are other homegrown brands at various prominent locations in Gurney Plaza, including Royal Selangor, Habib Jewels and Bonia.”
The shopping centre, which is strategically located in Gurney Drive, is part of real estate investment trust CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust. The trust continues to look for quality assets
We are constantly on the lookout for good investment opportunities in the country,” said Maria Kozhanova, senior executive of Capitaland Retail Malaysia Sdn Bhd. “As a retail-focused real estate investment trust with four shopping malls in the key urban centres of Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Kuantan, CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust’s objective is to expand our footprint and portfolio in Malaysia, as one of our strategies to increase our unitholders’ returns.
British India is a Malaysian brand established in 1994 by Liew. The Penang store in Gurney Plaza was first set up in 2001 and is one of 40 stores in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, 19 of which are owner-operated.
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 27, 2013.
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