METRO Cash & Carry celebrated ground breaking of its Islamabad wholesale center

Islamabad, 23rd August 2007 – METRO Cash & Carry Pakistan celebrated the ground breaking of its first wholesale center in Sector I-11/4, Islamabad under the patronage of Chairman Capital Development Authority, Mr. Kamran Lashari. Mr. James Scott, Regional Operating Officer METRO Cash & Carry International Asia Pacific Region and the executive board of METRO Cash & Carry Pakistan were also present at the event.

METRO Cash & Carry’s wholesale center in Islamabad is planned to open in December 2007 and will be the company’s second location in Pakistan. The internationally leading self-service wholesaler will open its first location in Lahore, located on Multan Road near Thokar Niaz Beg. With its market entry in Pakistan, METRO Cash & Carry is expanding its presence in Asia. The company is already present in China, Japan, Vietnam and India. In total METRO Cash & Carry is present in 29 countries worldwide, with sales of about € 30.0 billion in 2006.

The unique wholesale business to business model of METRO Cash & Carry is focused only towards commercial customers such as hotel and restaurant owners as well as small and mid-sized retailers and other service companies. METRO Cash & Carry offers members of this target group a greater efficiency than the multilayered supply chain thus helping them to improve their business: By offering them a one-stop solution for their purchases, by helping them to improve their assortment, by offering them high quality products at reasonable and transparent prices and by offering them a reliable supply source. As a result, METRO Cash & Carry strengthens the competitiveness of its professional customers.

METRO Cash & Carry also strengthens local suppliers by building their capabilities and providing them with marketing opportunities – up to 90 percent of the products offered will be supplied locally. METRO Cash & Carry also plans to run a farmer training program intended to build the capacity of farmers by improvements in marketing and supply chain. This will help Pakistani farmers produce export quality fruits and vegetables that will be able to compete in the international market. Moreover, each wholesale center will employ about 300 people from the local community. A further 150 persons will be employed for auxiliary services as well as 200 people at the company’s country headquarters in Lahore.