“We are looking at expansion in terms of new revenue stream through digital marketing and e-commerce platforms.”

Datuk Jaswinder Kaur,

Ortus Expert White Sdn Bhd chief executive officer

KUALA LUMPUR: The global wellness and beauty industries are growing at an impressive rate and Malaysian firms are capitalising on this trend by setting up bigger centres to attract customers.

The two industries are known to be resistant to economic downturns, even doing well during the “Great Recession of 2008”.

According to the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), which released the 2016 Global Wellness Economy Monitor early this year, the worldwide wellness industry grew 10.6 per cent to US$3.72 trillion (RM15.2 trillion) from 20132015, making it one of the world’s fastest-growing and most resilient markets.

For the beauty industry, Forbes estimates put it at US$445 billion currently.

Statista.com stated on its website that between 2016 and 2021, the Asia Pacific mass beauty market alone was projected to grow by US$14.9 billion in sales.

Wellness and beauty (which includes cosmetics) in Malaysia are already billion-ringgit industries.

Ortus Expert White Sdn Bhd chief executive officer and cofounder Datuk Jaswinder Kaur said Malaysia was a global leader in the wellness space with worldclass facilities.

She said the market for cosmetics in Malaysia this year was estimated to be worth around RM2 billion and growing rapidly as people put more care on their beauty and health.

She told NST Business that Ortus Expert White, part of Singapore-listed OEW Group Pte Ltd, would be increasing its investment to grow its wellness and cosmetics business.

A bulk of the investment would be in innovation, technology, product line and network expansion, she said.

The company is looking at product line expansion to include wellness and nutrition products, and growth in the Asian region.

It is eyeing Indonesia, India, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as the demand for its products was high there.

“We are also looking at expansion in terms of new revenue stream through digital marketing and e-commerce platforms. We are quite optimistic to be able to double our revenue next year.

“We have expansion plans which mainly focuses on the quantity and quality of our distribution channel and also market development that will drive our revenue growth,” she said.