TIM Shen, an executive with the world’s number one cabinetry manufacturer Oppein Group, said on Tuesday he was charmed by their local unit’s performance, two years after it began operations.
Shen, who is the global director at Oppein Group, jetted into the country on Tuesday “to come and see what opportunities are there” on the local market.
The group operates under the local group Kavod Sati on a franchise basis.
Speaking to journalists at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, Tim said his perception of Zimbabwe changed after he realised the country was a big business partner of China.
“Zimbabwe has the best results and they have been operating for two years. I hope that in future Zimbabwe will continue to grow,” he said of the local operations.
Zimbabwe is the fourth country on the continent where Oppein has operations after Kenya, Uganda and South Africa.
Tim hopes his visit would lure other investors from China to look for opportunities in Zimbabwe. China is regarded as Zimbabwe’s all-weather friend after the southern African country looked East at the turn of the millennium after Harare fell out of favour with the West over a human rights and governance deficit.
Chinese investors have moved in to plug the gap, investing in the mining, agriculture, retail and construction sectors, among others.
- Indian national nabbed over $6m heroin stash
- Property magnate mulls building US$30b portfolio
- Stage set for Rick Ross’s maiden Zim gig
- Ghanaian singer jets in for Zim maiden concert
Keep Reading
Founded in 1994, Oppein has risen to become the world’s number one cabinetry manufacturer.
Last year, the top kitchen and custom home decor brand recorded sales turnover of US$3,25 billion. Its cabinet output and sales soared to 6 million sets, firmly establishing the company as an industry leader.
Oppein has five manufacturing plants in Guangzhou, Qingyuan, Tianjin, Wuxi and Chengdu which have a total area of over 2,3 million square meters, giving it the edge of being the world’s largest furniture output.
