Aju Business Daily

South Korean cosmetics giant AmorePacific Co. will open its flagship store in Dubai that would become the company's regional base in the Middle East as its main market in China ran into trouble due to a diplomatic row over an advanced US missile system.

AmorePacific said Wednesday that it has signed a business cooperation contract with Alshaya Group, a Kuwait-based multinational group, to open its first brand store "Etude House" in Dubai. The contract with Alshaya, which has a major distribution network among Islamic countries, would help the South Korean company expand sales in the Middle East. 

"AmorePacific will present Middle East consumers with our innovative beauty culture," said AmorePacific CEO Suh Kyung -bae. "We aim to develop a new roadmap called 'Asian Beauty', connecting our home market with China, South East Asia, India, the Middle East and Europe."

Through its partnership with Alshaya, the company plans to open more stores in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.

For AmorePacific, the store in Dubai could be a new lifeline as it saw a sharp drop in sales in China which has restricted imports of South Korean products and K-pop culture in retaliation for Seoul's decision in July last year to deploy a US missile system called THAAD.

The value of the Middle East cosmetics market is estimated at about 18 billion US dollars in 2015 and is expected to grow rapidly to  36 billion dollars in 2020.