HCM City (VNA) - With its rapidly growing economy and a 95 millionpopulation of whom 60 percent are young consumers, Vietnam is anattractive destination for global franchising and retail businesses.

Speakingat a meeting in Ho Chi Minh City on October 9 to introduce the 2018 Shop &Store Vietnam Expo, Suttisak Wilanan, deputy managing director of Reed Tradex,said many franchises in the food, education and other sectors arebeing established in Vietnam and the entry of more new brands is imminent.

Thespending habit of Vietnamese consumers is now moving towards modern retail andtheir demand is becoming more individualized, he said, adding that thisprovides an opportunity for global franchises.

Vietnam’s franchisemarket has been ranked eighth by the International Franchise Association.

Figures from the Ministry of Industry and Trade show that 183brands have registered as foreign franchises in Vietnam, mainly in the food andbeverages, education, fashion, convenience stores, business services and hotelsectors.

A majority of them are from the US, Australia, the Republic of Korea,Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Canada and the Philippines.

Nguyen Phi Van, founder and president of Retail and FranchiseAsia, said: “Many foreign franchise business delegations led by governmentagencies have come to Vietnam to seek opportunities in the sector.”

Countries in the region use franchising to export their businessmodels and brands to the world since they have no longer export goods with lowvalue, she said.

The Malaysian Government has, for instance, a full-year programmethat states clearly how many business trips it would organise in a year to Vietnamto support businesses seeking franchisees.

“Many franchises in other countries in the region also want toenter the promising Vietnam market,” she said.

Thesectors with the greatest potential are food and beverages, education, healthand nutrition, business services, hospitality, fashion, beauty and skincare,entertainment, children’s services, and convenience stores.

The Vietnamesefranchise market is still new, and local businesses do not have muchunderstanding of or experience in it. There is also a shortage of humanresources in the sector, she said.

The firstShop & Store Vietnam to be held in HCM City from March 28 to 30, 2018 wouldoffer a good platform for foreign franchises to understand more about theVietnamese market while local entrepreneurs could learn from successfulfranchises to build their brands, she said.

Wilanansaid the exhibition is expected to attract 200 local and foreign exhibitors, 40percent of them being local ones in a range of sectors.

Organisedby Reed Tradex, the event will showcase retail technologies, finance software,store management system, catering and hospitality equipment, professionalretail services and e-commerce systems besides seminars on franchise andretail.

The showwould be an ideal platform for franchisors and retail technology providers tomeet with the entrepreneurs.

He encouragedlocal franchisors to promote themselves at the event.

Franchisingis a good opportunity for young entrepreneurs to run their own business bystarting with something they believe in or can capitalise on the know-how andknowledge from successful franchisors, he added.-VNA