Over 300 brands at Franchising & Licensing Asia 2014

Over 300 brands at Franchising & Licensing Asia 2014

SINGAPORE - Entrepreneurs and prospective franchisees met face to face with representatives of international brand concepts for 3 days during the 9th annual Franchising & Licensing Asia (FLAsia), presented by the Franchising & Licensing Association (FLA) Singapore and organised by BizLink Exhibition Services Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Singapore Press Holdings. FLAsia took place from Oct 16 to 18 at Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore.

This year's event was the largest showing to date, attracting a record 300+ brands from 22 countries and regions, marking a 20 per cent increase from last year.

At the opening ceremony of FLAsia 2014, Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Mr Teo Ser Luck said that franchising and licensing continue to play important roles in Singapore's retail trade as well as F&B industries. In 2013, the nominal value added (VA) of both sectors were 5.1 billion and 3.3 billion Singapore dollars respectively, with the franchising industry alone accounting for approximately 1 billion Singapore dollars.

This years' showing has seen increased interest from international brands seeking to use Singapore as a launch pad, with South Korea and Malaysia having their largest pavilions in FLAsia's history.

On the question of "Why choose to bring your local brand concepts to Singapore?", Ms Yuseon Eom, Manager of the Food Service Promotion Team of the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) and organiser of the Korea Pavilion, together with the Korean Franchise Association (KFA), said that Korean franchisees are extremely keen to expand overseas and bring their brands to Asia. Their plans are to use Singapore as the hub of expansion.

A good example is Beesket from South Korea, one of the participants at the Korea Pavilion at FLAsia. Beesket offers a unique business concept which allows customers to select up to 3 different combinations of fruit and vegetable ingredients for their fresh beverage, made of 100 per cent natural juice with no sugar and additives.

Beesket recently secured a Singapore master franchise, and exhibited at FLAsia 2014 so as to help obtain more sub franchisees for Singapore and the region. Mr Kevin Cho, CEO of Beesket Global Inc commented that through FLAsia, they have garnered much positive interest for regional franchises, including - Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Organiser of the largest Malaysia Pavilion at FLAsia, Mr Mohd Nadmin Bin Ramlan, Senior Assistant Director of the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-Operatives and Consumerism (KPDNKK) said that the Singapore market was chosen out of the other ASEAN countries due to the high purchasing power of its citizens. All the Malaysian franchise concepts that were showcased currently have no presence in Singapore, thus KPDNKK chose these brands for promotion. A number of enquiries have been received from international visitors and Mr Mohd Nadmin is pleased with the results.

FLAsia 2014 has been the most exciting franchising and licensing exhibition thus far, showcasing numerous international business concepts. Executive Director of BizLink Exhibition Services, Mr Chua Wee Phong, is pleased that the many years of hard work has paid off and that FLAsia has become the largest edition, and the largest event in the region. Mr Chua said, "It is our belief to make sure we bring in quality franchisees for the exhibitors, and we will do so continually."

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.