MANILA, Philippines – Japanese convenience store giant Lawson Inc. has set its sights on the Philippines, a move that would further heat up the retail scene in one of Southeast Asia’s fastest growing economies, according to The Philippine Star.

Lawson is partnering with a local firm to open as many as 2,000 convenience stores within five to 10 years, targeting the island nation’s growing middle class population.

“The Philippines is very strong in consumption. I am very interested in entering it,” Lawson chairman Takeshi Niinami told The Philippine Star at the recent World Economic Forum for East Asia 2014.

“We have to have an economy of scale so [Lawson convenience stores] should exceed 1,000–2,000 within a couple of years, depending on how we manage the business with the local partner,” Niinami said.

The Philippines would become the third Southeast Asian country to be tapped by Lawson, which has 61 branches in Indonesia and 29 stores in Thailand. The Japanese firm owns convenience store brands Lawson, Lawson Store 100 and Natural Lawson. As of March, Lawson had 11,716 stores in Japan, 389 in China and four in the United States.

Niinami said the Philippines will become a major part in the overseas operations of the company, which is partnering with a local firm that knows the Filipino taste. The entry of Lawson would intensify the competition among convenience store chains operating in the Philippines.

In 2012, property giant Ayala Land Inc. entered into a shareholders’ agreement with FamilyMart Co. Ltd. and Japanese conglomerate Itochu for the development and operations of FamilyMart convenience stores in the Philippines. It plans to open 700 branches in the next five years. For its part, global giant 7-Eleven aims to operate 2,000 stores in the next three to four years, almost double its current 1,049 branches.