German retail and wholesale/cash and carry group has joined forces with the Indonesian investment holding Sintesa Group to open its first outlet in Indonesia next year.
The wholesale centre, expected to cost some E10-15m (US$14m-21m), will open in Jakarta under a yet-to-be-announced local brand name.
Metro Cash & Carry said it sees potential to open more than 20 wholesale centres in Indonesia in the medium-term, thus creating over 4,000 jobs.
'With Sintesa Group we found a highly respected joint venture partner. Sintesa will contribute its expertise and knowledge of the local market and together we will push our expansion across Indonesia,' Frans Muller, CEO of Metro Cash & Carry for the Asian region, said in a press release.
'Indonesia offers a huge potential for our wholesale concept,' added Bunny Khurana, managing director of Metro Cash & Carry's Indonesian business. 'There is a growing demand from businesses like restaurants, caterers and small retailers - our potential core customers - for a reliable supply source of high quality goods. With our unique business-to-business concept we offer them everything they need to run their business under one roof, thus enabling them to participate into a modern distribution infrastructure that will help them to further grow in the increasingly challenging competitive environment.'
The development of Metro Cash & Carry's wholesale business and that of the local economy generally goes hand in hand, Mr Khurana added. 'We will heavily invest in training suppliers, like farmers and local producers, to apply international quality standards and sustainable and efficient production methods. Thus we are able to offer our customers a better quality at a better price and enable farmers to earn more money and explore export opportunities to our network in 34 countries.'
Indonesia will become the 34th country where Metro Group is present and the 31st member in Metro Cash & Carry's international country portfolio.
Over the past 15 years, Metro Cash & Carry has established a network of around 80 outlets in five Asian countries, namely, China, India, Japan, Vietnam and Pakistan.
