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Economics

[1405] Of Wal-Mart comes to bury you all with Snapple

Previously, talks on the street had it that Wal-Mart was interested in acquiring stakes in Makro. It did not happen and instead, it was TESCO that absorbed Makro. A year after that, news of Wal-Mart coming to Malaysia resurfaces.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Mohd Shafie Apdal said yesterday that US-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Germany’s Metro AG had applied to open stores in the country and that the Government was still vetting the applications. [Economist: More operators good for hypermarket sector. The Star. October 12 2007]

If the application is approved, two of the largest retailers in the world would have presence in this country. Number one is Wal-Mart of course; number two is Carrefour. But do not be misled by the 1-2 ranking: Wal-Mart is much larger than Carrefour. Even if four of the top five global retailers excluding Wal-Mart consolidate into an entity, Wal-Mart would still be the largest retailer in the world in terms of revenue.

Also, there were rumors that Wal-Mart wanted to acquire Carrefour. But heh, the French would never allow that!

This apparently is made possible by recent market liberalization:

The ban on new foreign hypermarkets establishing a presence in Malaysia was lifted in May, with the ministry issuing permits on a case-by-case basis.

[…]

In April 2002, former Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin banned the setting up of new foreign hypermarkets and imposed restrictions on store sizes, opening hours and locations for those already operating in Malaysia to protect local retailers. [Economist: More operators good for hypermarket sector. The Star. October 12 2007]

With the liberalization, I hope to get my daily supply of Snapple and Snapple caps! They must bring more Snapple into Malaysia!

Yup, yup. The application must only be approved on one condition: amply availability of Snapple! No Snapple, no license!

By Hafiz Noor Shams

For more about me, please read this.

2 replies on “[1405] Of Wal-Mart comes to bury you all with Snapple”

In theory, the negotiation is still ongoing. Practically, it is dead, especially with the fact that it has to go through to a Democratic-controlled Congress.

The one to watch currently is the ASEAN-EU FTA. This would be closer to the idea of free trade than a US-Msia FTA>

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