The operations of the Bata Company in Malaysia were recorded in 1930, when a store in Penang was in operation. A few years later, a shoe factory was established. Business continued in the following decades, and Bata is still operating in the country today.
- The export of Bata shoes to the market of inter-war Straits Settlements (Singapore and Malaysia) gradually increased: 2,000 pairs of shoes (in 1928), 23,000 pairs (in 1931), 194,000 pairs (in 1935), 585,000 pairs (in 1937)
- In 1930, company stores operated in Singapore and Penang on the territory of the Straits Settlements; in 1931, Bata employed 12 workers in the country
- In 1931, a Malacca store was added, and in 1931 several other stores were opened (Kuala Lumpur, Ipoh, Penang)
- In 1934 a rubber plantation was purchased in Kulai
- In 1938 there were 25 stores in the Straits Settlements, and in 1939 this number increased to 164
- In 1936, the construction of a factory in Klang began, and in June 1937 the production of rubber footwear has started; in 1941, 539 workers were employed in Klang (313 men, 226 women)
- After the war, the business continued – in December 1946 rubber footwear production was restored
- 1962 – Bata Shoe Company Limited (Malaya) was on the list of historically registered Bata companies for Malaysia. In 1980 a sister company Bata (Malaysia) Berhad (manufacturing, retail / dealer / wholesale / export) operated in Malaysia
- The following Bata companies were active in Malaysia in 1992:
- Bata Berhad, Klang
- Branch Factory, Seremban
- Branch Factory, Kapar
Sources:
- Bata, The Bata Shoe Organisation, 1978
- Jaroslav Pospíšil – Hana Pospíšilová, Rub a líc baťovských sporů, Zlín 2012, ISBN 978-80-7473-037-5
- Thomas J. Bata, Remmembered, Zlín 2016, ISBN 978-80-7473-398-7
- Moravský zemský archiv v Brně – Státní okresní archiv Zlín, Česko
- Podnikový archiv Bata, Batanagar, India