Kodak snaps up franchise deal with BOC
( 2002-01-26 10:18 ) (1 )

The Bank of China (BOC) has signed a deal with Kodak (China) Ltd this week to finance Kodak's franchisees and would-be photographic business investors.

According to "the BOC-K Plan,'' the bank will provide a comprehensive credit line of 100 million yuan (US$12 million) for Kodak's franchisees.

It will help speed up the capital turnover of the franchisees and the capital circulation in Kodak's distribution channels, said Li Junsheng, general manager of Kodak (China)'s Consumer Imaging Department.

Meanwhile the bank will offer loans to potential imaging business investors recommended by Kodak, for their purchase of the company's colour film developing or imaging equipment.

The service will be gradually provided in China's major cities through the bank's outlets nationwide, which number more than 10,000.

The new financial service indicates that the bank is seeking to expand its business from the traditional production field to marketing, said Xu Chen, an official with the BOC.

And it encourages more individual investors to set up Kodak chain stores.

To further expand its imaging service network in the country, the company also launched a new programme during its carnival exhibition held this week.

The programme enables small investors to invest just 88,000 yuan (US$10,600) to open a Kodak e-Studio, which will offer digital imaging services. This offer will continue until Thursday.

Jacky Chan, regional output business director of Kodak (China), said the market potential for the imaging business is huge.

In China, every person uses 0.2 roll of film annually, compared with 3.7 rolls in the United States.

Only 17 per cent of Chinese families have cameras, and there is a colour film developing store for every 80,000 persons.

In addition, the sales volume of digital cameras last year was about 200,000 -- an increase of 50 per cent on 2000. It is expected to experience a higher rate of increase this year.

Since 1994, more than 7,000 Kodak Express Stores (KEXs) have opened across the country, with 1,000 KEXs now doing the digital photographic developing business.