Emami Group of Companies, the $450 million Indian personal healthcare conglomerate, has announced aggressive regional expansion plans for its personal and health care products.

The company plans to set up a manufacturing base in North Africa and support its regional growth strategy, envisaged at accelerated pace of 50-60 per cent CAGR over the next three years.

Commenting on its ambitious growth outlook and rationale for Gulf countries and the rest of Mena, Prashant Goenka, director, International Business, Emami, said that the region holds tremendous appeal for the company in the wake of a rising population, predominantly youth and opening up the market for its personal health care products.

Emami has its second global business base in the UAE after the UK, Emami International, which has been driving growth for the company in the region ever since it has been fully operational last year.

Goenka said: "Our expansion focus in the UAE and other countries in the region has stemmed from a significant shift in our overseas business policy which envisages Emami to emerge as a strong local player as well in the countries we are present compared to an earlier export-led strategy."

"For Emami, this means reinforcing its foot prints across Mena with marketing offices across the region as well as setting up of manufacturing and logistics base," Goenka noted.

He said Emami will set up its regional manufacturing base in North Africa through a combination of acquisition as well as fresh investment infusion.

"We have already identified acquisition opportunities, but as a group we also strongly believe in growing organically and this strategy will involve making fresh investments as well to support growth plans."

"We are confident that our regional manufacturing plant will be up and running in less than two years from now. The new manufacturing base will support us in our strategy to become a leading player in this market with firm roots in this market in terms of originating our range of wide range of personal healthcare and beauty products," he added.

Setting up its own manufacturing base will make business sense since Emami has achieved aggressive growth in the uptake of its products in the region ever since the group started its operations last year in the UAE.

"The growth has primarily come from the UAE but we believe that there is tremendous untapped potential in other regional markets as well," he said, adding that "the group's investment in a well-qualified team in its UAE's operations has been paying dividends with excellent growth results."-Reuters