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t has been one month since Uniqlo opened its first outlet in Jakarta, the largest in Southeast Asia. The Japanese global brand invested about Rp 104 billion (US$10 million) for the first store, plan to open up to 10 more stores in the next three years. Uniqlo chairman and CEO Tadashi Yanai recently spoke with The Jakarta Post'€™s Mariel Grazella on the potential of the domestic market for the fashion retail giant. Below are excerpts from the interview.

Question: Uniqlo has established its largest store in the Southeast Asian region in Jakarta, Indonesia. What promise does the company see in the Indonesian market?

Answer: Indonesia'€™s large population and rising middle class make it a very strategic market in the Southeast Asian region. In addition, Japan and Indonesia has had a very close relationship, and this has smoothed the acceptance of Japanese brands in this market.

And Jakarta, as a densely populated city, shares that potential as well. This city reminds me of Shanghai in 1986. At that time, Shanghai was not as brightly lit as it is today, and its department stores did not feature as large as a variety of products as it does now. But I had spotted potential in Shanghai because of the sheer number of people walking through the streets.

Jakarta is at a far more advanced condition than Shanghai in those days. Thus, if Shanghai could become as developed as it is now, there are no reasons why Jakarta could not be the next Paris, New York, London and Tokyo.

Considering the size of the Indonesian market, success here will also translate into success in the Southeast Asian region as a whole.

Uniqlo has previously opened stores in neighboring Southeast Asian cities such as Singapore and Kuala Lumpur '€” cities frequented by Indonesians looking to shop.

How would the stores in Indonesia provide the same shopping experience for these consumers?

Our stores across various cities do not compete with each other. Instead, they coexist because each store has a population of people living around it. This is what we want to do '€” fulfill the needs of people.

Besides, the lifestyles in various cities across the world, whether it is Singapore or Hong Kong, have become comparable. That is why we provide basic fashion-wear such as white shirts and red sweaters which could be equally worn in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Hong Kong.

We make sure we price our products fairly around the world, although there are variations due to taxes and other additional costs we have to pay to make items available in a certain market.

Are there plans to invest in manufacturing facilities in Indonesia, or special products for the Indonesian market?

We do not invest in manufacturing facilities because we generally work with manufacturing facilities, who become our partners in producing our products. We also do not have any limited edition items available for Indonesia. This is because when we create products, be it limited edition items, the products are for distribution and sale to all our stores worldwide, including those in Japan and South Korea. However, we are glad to hear from domestic designers who understand well local designs, such as batik, as well as international trends, to develop new creations.

What is the story behind the '€œLifeWear'€ concept which the brand has adopted?

The '€œLifeWear'€ concept was inspired by our consumers who see clothes as a part of their need. The Japanese consider that there are three basic elements necessary to live '€” food, shelter and clothing.

The first Uniqlo store opened at 6 a.m on June 2, 1984. The first store only sold ready-to-wear clothes bought off from suppliers. Our products sold well because they carried low prices, but the quality of the items were not superior because we were not involved in the manufacturing process.

We then started discussing with players in the textile industry in China because at that time, China'€™s textile industry was booming. Thanks to the boom, we were soon able to get involved in the manufacturing process.