A FEW days back I accompanied a friend who was doing his Deepavali shopping in some retail outlets. One of the retail chains we visited was 99 Speedmart.

This ubiquitous retail chain, with the tag line ‘nearer and cheaper!’ has mushroomed nationwide to more than 2,600 units in the last couple of decades.

The proprietor, Lee Thiam Wah, who is a disabled person became a billionaire overnight through the public listing and had said that he would like the retail chain to be spread regionally.

99 Speedmart has a laudable multi-racial staff who are helpful and courteous. Halal and non-halal items are placed in different sections as recent boycotts were fresh in their minds.

While going through the rounds in the shop what struck me was the almost total absence of Indian consumer products other than some curry and Deepavali items from Baba’s even though there was a sizeable number of Indian shoppers buying various household items.

Needless to say, many of them will have to frequent various other shops to complete their festive shopping needs.

Like many others I strongly feel that retail chains and supermarkets need to make available a larger array of Indian consumer products, both local as well as imported.

There are a lot of Indian SMEs manufacturing or distributing various Indian consumer products but they are finding it difficult to penetrate the retail chains and supermarkets due to the discrimination practised by the latter against Indian products.

Due to this, local Indian industries and manufacturers have a limited market and growth potential.

This also applies to Bumiputera concerns. The government and the relevant ministries needs to ensure that this kind of discrimination is ended for the country’s multi-racial wellbeing.

For too long both Indian consumers and businesses have had to deal with these kind of problems. When finding that the Indian product that they are looking for is not available, they are forced to buy less favourable alternative brands.

All the retail chains and supermarkets practise discrimination against Indian products which have somewhat totally disappeared due to less avenues for sale.

Many small-time Indian entrepreneurs find it difficult to penetrate the local market due to the high walls of discrimination and indifference.

Indians number about two million in the country and taken as whole they are a sizeable consumer force that need to be taken seriously. I strongly feel that there is a need for a Malaysian Indian Consumers Association that can apply pressure as well as help out and create more avenues for Indian consumers and business.

If necessary Indians will have to resort to ‘positive boycotts’ whereby they will frequent outlets that sell Indian products and keep away from others.

Due to this local discrimination a lot of consumer, commercial, agricultural and industrial products from India do not find their way into the local market although there is good demand for them.

If China can flood the local market with its wide range of products, why can’t India? India is the largest buyer of Malaysian palm oil and the balance of trade is hugely in favour of Malaysia.

The general public is also not being exposed to the vast array of Indian products as has been the case in the Middle East and some other parts of the world.

The Indian High Commission officials, instead of warming their seats, should explore the vast untapped trade opportunities between India and Malaysia, which have plenty of room for mutual growth.

More trade exhibitions and investment missions could do much for mutual trade to be increased.

There are also numerous way to help local Indian business through partnerships and joint-ventures to help the local Indian community progress. Both the Indian High Commission and India has to do to support the Indian diaspora here.

Just providing a few scholarships and inviting some local dignitaries to celebrate festive and political occasions is not doing enough on the part of the Indian High Commission.

With India’s accelerated growth in various sectors a wide array of products and merchandise being produced by many export-oriented firms, there is no more justification for the lopsided balance of trade.

An effective way for mutual growth between Malaysian Indians and India is for more joint ventures and a multi-pronged assistance programme by the Indian government to help local Indians in various fields. India today is in a good position where it can help local Indians. – Oct 21, 2024

V. Thomas is a Focus Malaysia viewer. 

https://focusmalaysia.my/more-retail-and-supermarket-chains-need-to-sell-indian-consumer-products/