Thakral to move Hong Kong headquarters to Shanghai

By Narendra Aggarwal
Apr 26, 2005
The Straits Times

AFTER three decades of operating from Hong Kong, Singapore-listed Thakral Corp is moving its headquarters to Shanghai in the heart of the booming China market, its main area of operations.
From July, the electronics equipment retailer will be headquartered in LT Square, off Nanjing Road, in the mainland's commercial capital, occupying premises of 1,900 sq m for its 120-member team.

'Our immediate objective is to double the network of retailers that we work with to 8,000 to 10,000 outlets,' said Thakral managing director Inderbethal Singh Thakral,46, in an interview.

Mr Bethal, as he is known among associates, has been heading the company's operations since 1984. He lives in Hong Kong with his family and will be moving to Shanghai in a couple of months.

But how does an Indian Singaporean do business in China and Hong Kong? Wouldn't language be a natural barrier?

In fact, he is a fluent Cantonese speaker. 'My Mandarin is not so good, though I can understand the language. But I guess I will learn it as we go along,' he said. 'My entire team at the headquarters in Hong Kong is bilingual. The China and Hong Kong markets account for 85 per cent of our business. I myself spend nearly half my time in China meeting business partners.

'Language has never been a barrier. Our company has been in the electronics retail business in Hong Kong and China for 40 years. So we know the market well. My advantage was my father's good contacts in the market when I took over the operations in Hong Kong.'

His father Kartar Singh Thakral,a well-known name in business circles here, is Thakral's founder and chairman. He has left the running of the business to Mr Bethal.

The Thakral family owns 16.3 per cent of Thakral Corp, down from the 74 per cent it had before the company ran into financial difficulties and had to restructure itself.

Mr Bethal said the restructuring had been completed and outstanding loans cleared earlier this year.