There had been news that Japan's Yamato is considering taking a majority stake in Malaysian GD Express Carrier Bhd (GDex) from its 23% currently, and it wants to “position Malaysia as a strategic base".

In an exclusive interview with BFM, Teong Teck Lean CEO and largest shareholder of GDex revealed that he is still very invested in the company. "For me, it is better that we have a strategic partnership. I still have a lot of passion and like to take this whole business to the region," he said.

GDex signed a collaboration to look at the ASEAN market with its substantial shareholder Yamato -- Japan’s largest door-to-door delivery service company. Teong gave an update on how the collaboration is panning out and what are the targets for this partnership.

Apart from Indonesia where GDex has already set up shop, Teong shared that they are also looking at Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines but pointed out that they need to ensure they find the right partner for the markets.

Teong invested into the company in 2000 when GDex was loss-making. Why buy into a loss-making company that had creditors lining up for payments? And at that time, there was no sign of the e-commerce boom yet. Teong shared with us what was it about GDex that caught his eye.

He also talked about intensifying competition as the e-commerce play heats up and what is the company's strategy to fend them off.

Teong also spoke about GDex's next move in the midst of a tougher operating landscape.