Global franchise consulting firm opens Dhaka office

Singapore-based franchise consulting and brokerage firm FranGlobal has recently opened its office in Dhaka with an aim to introduce 50 global brands in Bangladesh in the next two years.

The company will invest $39 million in the country, said Ekansh Kumar Dewan, senior manager for marketing at Franchise India Holdings Ltd, the parent company of FranGlobal.

“FranGlobal will also take initiative to help Bangladeshi brands expand globally,” he told The Daily Star yesterday.

“We help people to start their business,” Dewan said. The company provides the entrepreneurs with the whole ecosystem to help brands expand in other cities and even in different countries, he said.

FranGlobal plans to organise its first ever international franchise and retail expo on February 24, which will actually be a matchmaking expo of brands and interested investors, he said.

Dozens of global brands along with some Indian and local brands will take part in the show, he said.

In the daylong expo, brands from different industries will showcase their franchise opportunities, Dewan said. In different sessions of the event, industry experts from home and abroad will share their knowledge on franchising, retailing, licensing, entrepreneurship and business innovation best practices, he said.

The expo will help FranGlobal, a leading franchising solutions company in Asia Pacific, expands its footprint in the region, he said.

FranGlobal will provide all the support and services to the brands which want to enter the Bangladesh market, Dewan said.

The company is now having dialogues with the brands and hundreds of global companies who are interested to come to Bangladesh, he said.

Apart from the matchmaking, the company will also provide franchise development consultation to local Bangladeshi brands and facilitate liaison between international brands and Bangladeshi investors, he said.

Referring to a study report of PricewaterhouseCoopers, FranGlobal said Bangladesh is poised to be among the top three fastest growing economies of the world by 2030 and “that's why they have decided to expand services in Bangladesh”.

“Bangladesh is home to thousands of businesses and has emerged as one of the largest concentrations of multinational companies in South Asia,” Gaurav Marya, chairman of FranGlobal, said in a statement yesterday.

The country also has a handful of local brands which want to expand their businesses oversees and plan to franchise globally, Marya said.

Foreign franchisees are doing impressively well in Bangladesh, he said. “In fact, world's biggest brands are flourishing at an accelerated pace internationally than locally.”

“We believe this is the opportune time for FranGlobal to enter Bangladesh market.”

Currently, FranGlobal has operations in Canada, the United Kingdom, India, Singapore and Greece along with other diverse geographies.