Jollibee eyes Malaysia, Indonesia

Homegrown Jollibee Foods Corp., now a leading Asian restaurant chain, plans to enter Malaysia and Indonesia in the next two years and grow its Southeast Asian footprint through franchising.

JFC chief finance officer (CFO) Ysmael Baysa said during the ING Bank-Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines CFO forum on Wednesday that JFC should have set up shop in at least one of these markets by 2016.

Baysa said JFC would likely come in using the franchising route, similar to the expansion strategy in the Middle East.

Baysa, recipient of 2010 ING-Finex (Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines) CFO of the Year Award, said Asean—referring to the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations which are forming an integrated economic community by 2015—won’t likely contribute much to JFC’s total international business over the short term.

“We are growing very fast still in the Philippines, China and United States but I think it could be big because Asean has a very strong middle class,” he said.  Doris C. Dumlao