Foreign retail giants have shown their interest in developing modernretailing in Vietnam by pouring money into trade centres andsupermarkets.
According to the Institute of Informationand Business Research (IIB), the retail industry in the country, whichhas a population of 88 million, holds huge potential despite localconsumers tightened their spending in recent years due to the economicdownturn.
The turnover from retail sales is expected toincrease by 8.5 percent per year in the 2013-15 period, with food andfoodstuff being the most important products.
The institutepredicted that the market would witness expansion of supermarket chainsand the tapping of multinational retail groups.
Frenchsupermarket chain Big C now has more than 20 supermarkets in Vietnamand its expansion continued with the recent opening of new outlet inPhu Tho province and the start of construction on a complex in QuangNinh province, both in the northern region.
Dau Tu (Investment)newspaper has reported that the Korean Lotte group plans to develop 60supermarkets and trade centres in Vietnam.
In addition,Japanese retailer Aeon plans to open two trade complexes each year inthe country until 20 will have been built by 2020 at a total cost of 1.5billion USD. Aeon has also joined forces with the Trung Nguyen Group todevelop 500 Ministop convenient stores in the country from 2012 until2017.
The market has also seen the return of French groupAuchan, which has pledged to spend 500 million USD over the next decade,several years after its business operations were interrupted in thecountry. According to Vo Van Quyen, director of the Ministry of Industryand Trade's Domestic Market Department, after Vietnam officiallyjoined the World Trade Organisation in 2007, the percentage of modernretail channels has doubled to 20 percent. The figure is expected toreach 43 percent by 2020.
He said that the penetration offoreign retailers did not break the country's retail planning, insistingthat there is room for local businesses to grow alongside thecompetition from foreign giants.
The IIB's director Dinh TheHien said that alongside growing professional retail channels such asMetro, Big C, Lotte, Coop Mart and Maximart, domestic producers such asMasan , Vissan, Vinamilk and Trung Nguyen would be able to developtheir own distribution systems to increase the market accessibility andpromote their brands.
According to general director of Sai GonCo.op Nguyen Thi Hanh, it's time for local retailers to develop thesupermarket model to increase their market share and co-exist and growwith their foreign retail competitor.
The link betweenproducers and retailers should be enhanced to ensure the adequacy ofgoods supply sources, said Nguyen Tien Vuong from the Hanoi TradeCorporation.
Statistics show that 21 foreign retailers arecurrently present in Vietnam . At the end of 2012, there were about130 trade centres and 700 supermarkets nation-wide. Those numbers areexpected to reach 180 and 1,200 respectively by 2020, according to theministry.-VNA
According to the Institute of Informationand Business Research (IIB), the retail industry in the country, whichhas a population of 88 million, holds huge potential despite localconsumers tightened their spending in recent years due to the economicdownturn.
The turnover from retail sales is expected toincrease by 8.5 percent per year in the 2013-15 period, with food andfoodstuff being the most important products.
The institutepredicted that the market would witness expansion of supermarket chainsand the tapping of multinational retail groups.
Frenchsupermarket chain Big C now has more than 20 supermarkets in Vietnamand its expansion continued with the recent opening of new outlet inPhu Tho province and the start of construction on a complex in QuangNinh province, both in the northern region.
Dau Tu (Investment)newspaper has reported that the Korean Lotte group plans to develop 60supermarkets and trade centres in Vietnam.
In addition,Japanese retailer Aeon plans to open two trade complexes each year inthe country until 20 will have been built by 2020 at a total cost of 1.5billion USD. Aeon has also joined forces with the Trung Nguyen Group todevelop 500 Ministop convenient stores in the country from 2012 until2017.
The market has also seen the return of French groupAuchan, which has pledged to spend 500 million USD over the next decade,several years after its business operations were interrupted in thecountry. According to Vo Van Quyen, director of the Ministry of Industryand Trade's Domestic Market Department, after Vietnam officiallyjoined the World Trade Organisation in 2007, the percentage of modernretail channels has doubled to 20 percent. The figure is expected toreach 43 percent by 2020.
He said that the penetration offoreign retailers did not break the country's retail planning, insistingthat there is room for local businesses to grow alongside thecompetition from foreign giants.
The IIB's director Dinh TheHien said that alongside growing professional retail channels such asMetro, Big C, Lotte, Coop Mart and Maximart, domestic producers such asMasan , Vissan, Vinamilk and Trung Nguyen would be able to developtheir own distribution systems to increase the market accessibility andpromote their brands.
According to general director of Sai GonCo.op Nguyen Thi Hanh, it's time for local retailers to develop thesupermarket model to increase their market share and co-exist and growwith their foreign retail competitor.
The link betweenproducers and retailers should be enhanced to ensure the adequacy ofgoods supply sources, said Nguyen Tien Vuong from the Hanoi TradeCorporation.
Statistics show that 21 foreign retailers arecurrently present in Vietnam . At the end of 2012, there were about130 trade centres and 700 supermarkets nation-wide. Those numbers areexpected to reach 180 and 1,200 respectively by 2020, according to theministry.-VNA
