Korean firm establishes HK base for regional expansion

Korean cosmetic brand, dodo club, plans to use its first Hong Kong outlet to further develop the Mainland market and as a window to expand into South East Asia.

The Nathan Road shop, the first Korean cosmetics shop in Hong Kong, was officially opened today (September 10); and the company has plans to open more shops in the city in the next two years.

Dodo club's CEO Park Jong Boong believes there is great market potential for cosmetics products in Hong Kong, particularly among younger consumers who have good spending power and demonstrate high receptiveness to new brands.

Established in 1989, dodo club is a subsidiary of one of Korea's leading cosmetics brands, dodo company, and currently operates more than 30 shops in Korea.

The company will leverage Hong Kong's excellent geographic location at the centre of Asia and its unrivalled business-friendly environment to expand the network to neighbouring export markets in Asia, including Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

At today's opening ceremony, the acting Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, Mr Simon Galpin, said the continuously growing inbound tourism market provided foreign brands like dodo club an ideal platform to showcase their products to target markets, especially the Mainland.

"We encourage brands from all over the world to establish their presence in Hong Kong. This will contribute to the retail scene in our city as it offers shoppers and visitors a larger variety of choices and fresh new shopping experiences. Our city also is the best base from which to develop the Mainland and other Asian markets," he said.

Ends/Friday, September 10, 2004