Vouch 15 Cover Story – Interview with Mr Gan Cheng Swee

Johor Bahru Property & Ecominic Outlook in 2016

Treat Challenges as Opportunities

What is your view on the economic outlook in Johor Bahru for the coming year from the perspective of the furniture and household electrical appliances industries?

We are facing a global economy slowdown and 2016 is a challenging year for the economy as a whole. The demand from Singapore should remain because of the country’s exchange rate advantage. We have to brace ourselves to perform but challenges are part and parcel of business. So stay positive and be optimistic about challenges, treat them as opportunities.  It is a transition period and overtime the market will recover.

What challenges do the furniture and household electrical appliances market face in the coming year and how do you see ways to address these challenges?

There is a shortage of manpower in general and wages is a contributing factor. As we know, many people in Johor Bahru would choose to work in Singapore because of better job opportunities and foreign exchange gains and this has caused a manpower shortage in many sectors. As for us, a lack of staff to maintain product displays, assist customers with purchases and product selections, provide appropriate solutions and advice and so on will impact on the performance of our customer service.  At Lionmas, we are planning to expand our business presence and operations outside the state of Johor to increase the number of locations and convenience for customers as well as capturing the benefits of economies of scale.

There are concerns that too many high-rise apartments and condos are being built in Johor Bahru. How does this affect the furniture and household electrical appliances industries?

There will be a large number of apartments and condos ready for occupancy in the coming year and it is not sure if all the high-rise residences will be filled up. There might not be an occupancy rate of 100%, but even if there were only 50% occupancy it would account for substantial demand. As more people settle into their new homes, companies in the furniture and house electrical appliances sectors will be seeing rising demand for their products.

How does the Goods and Services Tax (GST) impact on your business?

GST has largely become part of our ordinary day-to-day business and we have adapted to the new rules and processes. Nonetheless, there are still administrative issues to be addressed. We hope that issues with regard to its implementation will be dealt with so that GST operation does not pose excessive administrative burden on small retailers.