A

EON Mall, a subsidiary of Japan'€™s largest retailer AEON Co., is set to launch its first mall out of the planned 20 shopping centers to be developed in Indonesia'€™s suburban areas on May 30, in partnership with local real estate giant Sinar Mas Land.

The 100,000-square-meter shopping center will be located in BSD City, South Tangerang, some 30 kilometers from Jakarta, and cater to the rising middle class in Jakarta and its surrounding areas.

'€œThe number of middle class is rising and the population of Indonesia'€™s youth is also increasing with big purchasing power,'€ said Daisuke Isobe, general manager of PT AEON Mall Sinar Mas Land (AMSL) Indonesia, the joint venture developing and operating the shopping center.

In recent years, Indonesia has seen foreign retailers from South Korea'€™s conglomerate Lotte Group and Swedish home furnishing company Ikea expand in the country thanks to steady economic growth and the expanding middle class that has increased purchasing power in Southeast Asia'€™s largest economy '€” a big market with a population of about 250 million to serve.

AEON Mall BSD City took up US$67 million in investment, with 67 percent coming from AEON Mall Indonesia and the remaining 33 percent from Sinar Mas Land, part of publicly listed developers Bumi Serpong Damai and Duta Pertiwi, which has developed 14 retail international trade centers across the city.

AEON Mall operates 141 malls in Japan and is expanding through Southeast Asia, such as in Malaysia, where it is the biggest retailer, as well as the Philippines and Vietnam. It aims to develop 20 shopping centers in Indonesia with a more than ¥80 million investment.

The company is targeting suburban areas where young families and youth with high spending patterns live, according to AMSL Indonesia operations general manager Adrian Pranata.

'€œThis is the first mall with a Japanese ambience in Indonesia, which differentiates it from other malls in Greater Jakarta. Our services will live up to Japanese standards,'€ Adrian said, mentioning a 1.4-meter railing to keep children safe as one of Japan'€™s tested safety standards to be applied in the mall. AEON Mall BSD City is expected to see 12 million visitors per year, according to Ryuma Okazaki, president director of both AMSL and AEON Mall Indonesia.

The shopping center '€” which will have 37 prominent Japanese stores such as Uniqlo, one-price-shop Daiso and Japanese restaurants '€” will compete with other shopping centers in South Tangerang, such as Summarecon Mall Serpong and Living World Alam Sutera.

Other AEON Malls will be developed in the Jakarta Garden City township in East Jakarta '€” teaming up with another publicly listed property developer, PT Modernland Realty, on land worth $45 million '€” and in Sentul, West Java, with Jakarta-listed Sentul City. (agn)