Tesco is building the infrastructure to support its rapid growth in South Korea and Hungary this year as work begins on two new state-of-the-art distribution facilities due to open in 2002. Tesco's success in Thailand has been attributed in part to its superior central distribution system, which uses the only fully integrated computerised cross docking facility in south east Asia. Tesco currently outsources much of its distribution activities in South Korea, operating from three separate facilities. The new centre will bring everything under one roof, improving efficiency and speeding up lead times. It will also support rapid growth in the coming year. Tesco now operates seven hypermarkets in South Korea, five of which were opened in the space of just 65 days. A further 13 will open by the end of 2002, by which time the online shopping operation should also be running. The lead' country in central Europe, Hungary moved into profit this year. Tesco has 15 hypermarkets in the country with another five set to open by the end of 2001. There has also been a flurry of own label activity overseas in recent months. Locally sourced Tesco Value lines are now available throughout central Europe. A spokesman said: "We are now complementing this by introducing standard' range own branded products." Stores in Hungary now stock over 250 Value lines and 150 standard own label mid range' lines. A new SuperSave' value range has been developed for Asia. There are about 200 lines, but "this figure is expected to rise significantly over the coming months". While there are no short- term plans to introduce the Finest range overseas, premium lines have not been ruled out in the long term. Tesco branded credit cards are also being rolled out to Thailand in the coming year after successful launches in Poland, Korea and Ireland. {{NEWS }}

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