29 ANNUAL REPORT 2023 MST GOLF GROUP BERHAD OUR 2024 OUTLOOK The Group is committed to strengthening its position as the market leader in both Malaysia and Singapore. Plans are currently ongoing to elevate some of the Group’s current retail outlets in 2024 to improve store efficiency, further expand its retail presence in these two existing markets and enhance strategic collaborations with brands to provide better retail experience to customers. Despite the challenging market condition and outlook with overall weak consumer sentiment, rising business costs and uncertainties of the current global geo-political situation, the Group remains cautiously optimistic about its growth prospects, especially in our expansion into new geographical locations where we believe that we are in a strong position with our business model and retail concept to compete with the local retailers and gain market share. Following our successful entry into Indonesia with our joint venture partner Erajaya Active Lifestyle, we opened our first retail outlet in Jakarta in December 2023 with our unique 3-in-1 total golf retail concept outlet comprising golf retail, golf academy and indoor golf and subsequently a second retail outlet in February 2024. These outlets have been well-received by the local golf consumers and the brands, as well as created a lot of hype and excitement within the Indonesian golf industry. We kept the excitement and marketing efforts going in Indonesia by bringing the regional launch of TaylorMade for its 2024 products to Jakarta in January 2024, followed by the launch of HONMA’s new series in February. In addition, as the newly appointed distributor of Honma Golf in Indonesia, we started the wholesale of HONMA to selected retailers in Indonesia through our joint venture company, PT MST Golf Distribution. Our expansion plans in Indonesia are on track as we plan to open four more retail outlets in key locations in Jakarta, which will bring the total number of outlets to six by 2024. Our regional expansion plans to enter Thailand and Vietnam remain on track. The negotiation of our joint venture in Thailand is at the advance stage with the aim to open two retail outlets in Bangkok by quarter four of 2024. We have also started to engage with potential joint venture partners in Vietnam, aiming to expedite our entry to Vietnam in 2025. In the golf services segment, we aim to grow our corporate clientele to deliver golf tournaments on course and off course (indoor golf) catering to a broader audience. We will also continue to refine and enhance cost efficiencies of our indoor golf business and operations, as well as drive more footfall to MST Golf Arena to excite new golfers, corporates and the younger demographic, thus driving more sales across our retail stores. The Toyota Tour, Malaysia’s local professional golf tournament following a three-party partnership between Professional Golf of Malaysia (PGM), UMW Toyota and MST Golf is into its second edition in 2024. In addition of hosting the tournaments for the professionals, we are excited to kickstart the Toyota Tour eGolf Championship, Malaysia's first national indoor golf tournament for amateur golfers which will run from April to August 2024. The inaugural Toyota Tour eGolf Championship tournaments will be played across all four MST Golf Arena locations in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Johor over five months with the grand finalist to be invited to play at a Toyota Tour event and compete against the professionals. The Championship is a first-of-its-kind, with the objective to bridge the gap between professional and amateur golfers, and is in line with our mission to promote golf and the industry to propel the sport. We are also enhancing our IT facilities, systems and processes to increase the operational and analytical capabilities and the efficiency of running and managing the business to lead the Group forward in line with MST Golf's business expansion. With the positive growth outlook by global industry players toward South East Asia, the Group is in a good position and optimistic about its geographical expansion plan in the region and financial growth moving forward. As the prominent Malaysian homegrown golf specialist, the Group is also keeping a lookout for other golf-related opportunities in Malaysia and the region.
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