According to India's
Economic Times, Wal-Mart is looking to India and China for major growth opportunities, as it licks its wounds from its Korean and German flops.
Wal-Mart is becoming more serious about its India game plans. The retail behemoth, which has decided to pull out of German and South Korea markets to concentrate on core markets, has identified China and India as its future growth drivers.
As the Arkansas headquarters of Wal-Mart gears up to fine-tune its India entry plans, Amy Wyatt, international corporate affairs spokesperson, Wal-Mart Stores, confirmed the development to ET.
In an email interview, Ms Wyatt said: “The divestitures will allow us to focus on our core markets and to search for new opportunities in growing consumer markets such as India. It will enable us to improve the overall financial position of our international business and focus on our continued growth.”
The problem in India is that Indian law still prevents multi-line retailing by foreigners -- leading to speculation that Wal-Mart will be looking for a local partner:
However, Ms Wyatt refused to comment on several rumours in the market about Wal-Mart entering into partnership with an Indian company. “We are still in the research phase in India and monitoring the Indian government’s policy on FDI,” she said.
Recent reports in the Indian media have, however, suggested that Wal-Mart has initiated discussions with companies like DLF, Bharti, Mahindra & Mahindra and Reliance Industries for possible tie-ups. Ms Wyatt, however, did not confirm this.
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