With a whopping annual turnover of $7.4bn up until March 2020, Lulu Group International is one of the largest retail chains in Asia and the biggest in the Middle East with 188 outlets in the Gulf countries. The Lulu Group is also undergoing vast expansion plans in retail, food processing and logistics sector.

Testament to Lulu’s pedigree, an investment firm backed by a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family agreed in April to buy a stake worth just over $1bn in the firm, according to people familiar with the matter.

In March of last year, Ali was also the first Indian to receive Saudi Arabia’s premium residency. The premium residency is part of the kingdom’s Vision 2030 reform plan.

According to a statement from LuLu Group, the permit allows expatriates to live, work and own business and property in the kingdom without the need for a sponsor.

In a video posted by the Saudi government’s Premium Residency Centre, Ali said: “Investors from all over the world can come here freely, invest, buy property and feel at home and secure and safe. An investor, what do we need? We need security, like a premium residency, in addition to the economy of the country. The economy of this great country is booming. This is the best time for all international investors to come and invest and take advantage of the 2030 Vision.”

The chairman also said the group aims to add 25 new hypermarkets this year despite the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the sector.

Lulu Group, which serves more than 1.6 million shoppers a day, has launched 15 hypermarkets since the outbreak of coronavirus in early 2020. Apart from physical stores, the company has online shopping  operations in 10 countries and sorting offices in 44 countries.