Japanese convenience store chain Ministop has signed PT Bahagia Niaga Lestari to expand the chain in Indonesia.

The first store will open its doors in February 2013 and it is planned to roll out at least 300 by February 2018, capitalising on the country’s growing population and rising incomes.

The move underlines the chain’s strategy to seek revenue outside Japan, where the population is shrinking and consumer demand is slowing.

Ministop’s parent company Aeon Group predicts the number of middle income consumers in Asian countries will double to about 2 billion by 2020 and some 2.2 billion people will be urbanised within a decade.

Indonesia will be Ministop’s fifth overseas market, after China, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines. Ministop has 2124 stores in Japan and 2163 overseas.

GB