Boots aims to triple Asian sales

  
 “We will accelerate our expansion even more and continue to invest in Thailand to grow our network,” Stefano Pessina, executive chairman of Alliance Boots, said yesterday.
The company does not have a fixed limit on its investment here, he said during a visit to Bangkok to pay tribute to the company’s staff and celebrate the opening of the 200th Boots store in Thailand.
The company has to see the real effect of trade liberalisation and national constraints when the Asean Economic Community is fully effective in 2015 before any adaptation will be made in the appropriate manner, he said.
The local team has been doing fantastic work with strong commitment in doing business and overcoming all difficulties, Pes-sina said.
Boots has been doing business in Thailand for almost 15 years.
The executive said Boots could easy double its stores in Thailand, or more than that, depending on its ability to find quality locations as well as the local economic and social environment – and regulations set to allow pharmacists to distribute more medicine.
“We want to become, if possible, the best chain and even the largest of the pharmacy and beauty stores in Thailand,” he said.

PROBLEMS IN EUROPE
Thailand is the country with the most potential in sales and profitability, with unlimited growth, Pessina said. While the company has been facing anti-trust regulations in Europe, which prevent it from buying businesses in many countries, Asia will be the region that creates growth for the company in the future.
“The economy in Asia is growing, with strong improvement in the average level of wealth and consumption,” he said.
Alliance Boots operates 3,400 pharmacy and beauty stores all over the world, of which about 2,700 are in the United Kingdom.
Dean Thompson, managing director of Boots Retail (Thai-land), said at least 25 stores or even double that would be opened in Thailand every year, if quality sites can be found.
Last year 21 stores were opened locally.
“In Thailand, most of the controlled drugs are dispensed to hospitals. In the UK, a lot of controlled drugs go to pharmacies like Boots,” he said.
At least one pharmacist is assigned to each store. Pessina said Asia currently contributed a small proportion of Alliance Boots’ business, but that could go up by a multiple of three to five in five years. The only challenges of the region are its bureaucracy and lack of transparency in the market and regulations.
“We now have two major operations in Asia, in Thailand and China. The company’s focus next year will be on China, Malaysia and Indonesia,” he said.
The company is doing only a distribution business in China because of that country’s regulations that prevent a foreign company from opening more than 30 retail stores.
However, Beijing started relaxing its controls two months ago and is opening a window for foreign investors to grow.
“We are thinking seriously of expanding our store network in China,” Pessina said.