French retail giant Carrefour plans to double its business in Malaysia by 2012, the country’s Business Times reported.

By the end of this year the company hopes to have 20 stores open in Malaysia, and wants to increase that number to 40 in another three years.

Carrefour Malaysia CEO Guillaume de Colonges told the Business Times the retailer was committed to expanding its operations in the country.

“We want to do in three years what we took 15 years to do before,” he said.

“If we can do more, we will.”

Carrefour has been established in Malaysia since 1994, but lags behind UK retailer Tesco (30 stores) and Hong Kong’s Dairy Farm (more than 90 stores), even though it has been in the country longer than both.

Mr de Colonges said the company would like to expand its presence in the country to include the states of Sabah and Sarawak.

At present the company employs around 4,000 people in Malaysia, and the expansion plans could see that figure triple.