The Emke Group, the major chain of retail outlets in the Gulf, has inaugurated its first shopping store in Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia, with proposals to make an investment Dh600 million in the coming 12-months to spread out its business.

As part of its expansion drive, the retail group, which operates a chain of 75 hypermarkets all around the region, has introduced doors in the kingdom, under which 24 more retail stores would be inaugurated in the UAE and in the region by the end of the fiscal.

The company said that in the course of coming 12-months, it will expend Dh600 million to introduce four more hypermarkets in the kingdom.

In fiscal 2008, the group has registered an annual sales turnover of USD 2.57 billion, against USD1.98 billion in year ago.

The new expansion comprises India, where a biggest shopping mall is being set up in Cochin in the southern state of Kerala.