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Kuala Lumpur: Apple has begun hiring employees for a retail push into Malaysia, preparing to bring its chain to this country for the first time.

The company recently published job listings on its website for locations in Malaysia, seeking store managers, technical specialists and support staff, salespeople for businesses, and operations experts.

The listings indicate that the positions will be for Apple’s own retail stores, not third-party reseller locations that have long operated in Malaysia.

The move will bolster Apple’s presence in Southeast Asia, where it already has stores in Thailand and Singapore.

The company also recently started promoting job listings for its first location in India, which has been planned for several years.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

The job listings do not indicate where in Malaysia the first store will be, but Apple is likely to start in Kuala Lumpur.

Apple does not report sales in individual countries, but the company generated more than US$29 billion (RM123.9 billion) from its Asia-Pacific segment, which excludes Greater China and Japan, in the last fiscal year.

The Cupertino, California-based company already operates an online store in Malaysia.

Apple started its retail chain nearly 22 years ago and now has more than 500 stores globally, with the majority located in the US.

The last international expansion occurred in 2018 with a location in Bangkok.