Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Mr. Yusuff Ali Musaliam Veettil Abdul Kader, Chairman and Managing Director of LuLu Group International, in Abu Dhabi on October 27, as part of his official visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Vietnam News Agency has reported.

The group owns the LuLu Hypermarket chain in 23 countries over the world, and enjoys an annual revenue of over $8 billion.

Mr. Yusuff Ali said that Lulu has established a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City to purchase Vietnamese products for its system of 265 hypermarkets around the world. He expressed his hope to receive support from the Government to expand its market in Vietnam.

PM Chinh proposed Lulu Group to continue to promote and introduce more potential Vietnamese products that are suitable for consumer tastes to approach and serve the UAE market as well as the Middle East and other markets in the group's hypermarket chain around the world.

Attention should be paid to considering investment cooperation with capable Vietnamese partners to open a hypermarket chain in Vietnam, a 100-million-strong market with great purchasing power, thus accessing the larger ASEAN market, he stressed.

PM Chinh suggested that Lulu Group, with its extensive network of branches, will serve as a bridge to attract potential investors from both within and outside the UAE to invest in Vietnam.

PM Chinh asked the group to accelerate the building of an agricultural processing facility in Vietnam, and affirmed that Vietnam will create favorable conditions for foreign investors, including Lulu, in developing their business activities in line with legal regulations.

Agreeing with the Vietnamese PM’s suggestions, the Lulu Group leader said that the company will expand the list of goods and increase imports from Vietnam. It will closely coordinate with Vietnamese agencies to organize Vietnamese goods fairs in the UAE and Gulf countries, so that consumers gain greater access to Vietnamese products.