Change Or Die

The retail industry will become extinct if there is no change in its management and mindset of its operators, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said.

He said the management system of retail business should be improved to get local youths to venture into the industry.

The old system failed to attract local youths, resulting in outsiders, including hypermarkets, competing to conquer the retail business, especially in the small towns and the rural areas, he added.

So far, he said, the government had been able to prevent them from monopolising the industry.

"There will come a time when we have to allow them in the name of trade liberalisation to go into convenient store business or to open small clothing stores," he told reporters.

He said the participation of foreign-owned hypermarkets in the retail industry could lead to them monopolising the retail business in the small towns and villages.

"If we are not ready to change, in terms of retail business and financial management, attitude and mindsets, I'm worried that we might not be able to compete with them and, in the end, we close our shops and everything belongs to them," he added.