Ming Fai Group, the Hong Kong-listed leaders in world-class hotel and airline products, is expanding its Cambodian operations, including bringing its high-quality products into the retail market.

Praising Cambodia for its human resources and stable business environment, the “total solutions provider for hotels” is planning to expand its local workforce to some 5,000 from the current 2,000 at its 17-block factory in the Kingdom.

Founded in 1980, the Shenzhen, China-based manufacturer was incorporated in the Kingdom as Ming Fai Enterprise (Cambodia) Co Ltd in January 2018 after carefully exploring the business climates of countries in the region.

“Having carried out extensive research into ASEAN nations, we decided to invest in Cambodia because it is a stable country, while the foreign exchange controls makes it easy for us to business here from Hong Kong and China.

“Cambodia’s economy and development have great potential and will only continue to go up. Cambodia has a young workforce, and we want more Cambodians to join us as we are here for the long haul, investing in the country and its people as the nation grows.

“We are expanding our Cambodian production from the manufacture of our airline pouches, retail bags and slippers into the next phase of the filling production line for liquids and bottling,” said Ching Tsun-wah, vice-president and executive director of Ming Fai.

With a mammoth 10,000 square metre showroom – the “Total Solution Service Center” – in the Chinese southern coastal city of Shenzhen.Ching describes Ming Fai as “the Ikea of the hotel industry”, Providing a bespoke and comprehensive product offering across the full range of PP&E – operating supplies and equipment – and FF&E – furniture, fixtures, and equipment – for the hotel industry, Ching said there are plans under way to open a smaller version in Phnom Penh.

“Hotels can come in to the store and take away what they want, and if for some reason they cannot find what they need, we can then assist with customisation.

“We have very strong connections with the hotels, and we take care of the consolidation for our customers so they don’t have to go to supplier A, B, C and D.

“This is what we mean when we say Ming Fai is the ‘total solutions provider for hotels’,” he said.

Having become a leader in supplying the international hotel and airline sectors, Ching said Ming Fai is continuing to expand into the body care and cosmetics retail segment.

“When Ming Fai was founded back in 1980, we started with hotel amenities and accessories like toiletries such as shampoo, conditioner and bath gel. We then expanded from liquid products to everything you find in a hotel.

“We over 50 thousand products in our range, and we are diversifying further, for example into retail personal care products and cosmetics,” he said.

And Ching said a spirit of innovation helps drive Ming Fai forward.

“We started our own innovations a few years back. With the whole world talking about the importance of being eco-friendly, we developed a product called the ‘Shampoo Bar’, which is a plastic-free product replacing traditional bottles.

“Our range of quality, innovative products has been available in the Hong Kong and China markets, and where we have direct sales channels, we go there. We have already extended into Singapore and Malaysia, for example.

“We are expanding our strategy to include B2C channels and promoting our own brands in Cambodia – such as the Bath and Body range of shampoo, conditioner, lotions and face products – in the retail market as well as the online shop,” he said.

Ching says Ming Fai is also aiming to soon have its Cambodian-made cosmetic products readily available to Cambodians in the Kingdom’s stores.

“While hotel and airline amenities remain our core business, we also want to expand further into other sectors like retail. In Cambodia, we are looking in the very near future to develop into retail products in the mass market, such as supermarkets and department stores.

“Cambodia is where we want to further expand the retail business, and the whole idea is to bring 5-star quality into retail with affordable prices.

“In the long run, we will put more resources into innovation and technologies in the Kingdom, to further develop the retail segment, branding and promote the Cambodian-made iconic brand.

“We have already registered brand trademarks and submitted products for registration, and we are confident that with strong marketing promotions – with our company and the quality of our products having been introduced to the market – the consumer will choose our products,” Ching said.