The franchising industry in Asia is taking off, with the annual revenue growing by more than 50 billion U.S. dollars annually, a Singaporean senior official said here Wednesday.

In five years time, annual growth will hit 100 billion U.S. dollars, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan said at this year's franchising and licensing award.

According to Lee, the rapid growth is underpinned by the large and relatively undeveloped franchise markets in the region. For instance, the Chinese and Indian markets grow by 40 percent each year compared with 5 percent of the U.S. market.

In Singapore's side, the sales turnover of Singapore-based franchises already exceeds 15 percent of the total domestic retail sales volume, Lee said.

He expected this number to continue growing, as he saw more homegrown franchises emerge.

And he pointed out that the franchising industry in Singapore will continue to flourish and grow in the years to come.