More and more large retail chains are choosing Vietnam to set up their businesses. In recent years, a veritable flock of big names in the sector – from “Dunkin' Donuts” to “Auntie Anne's”, from “Starbucks” to “McDonald's” – has descended upon the land of the dragon, attracted by a still underexploited market which presents great potential.
In fact, according to “The Liveliness of Retail Markets in Asia –Pacific 2014”, a study published by the real estate group CBRE, Vietnam has a lot to offer, by virtue of its young population and the growing propensity to spend of a rapidly growing middle class. CBRE has included Vietnam's two most populous urban centers, Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City, among the ten Asian cities expected to experience the greatest retail development in the coming years.
Having sensed the deal, the multinationals of the "B2C" have rushed to seize the opportunity, putting local companies in serious difficulty, unable to compete with the foreign giants. A Singapore chain, "Shop&Go", is the leading brand in Vietnam in the convenience store sector, followed by the US "Circle K". In Ho Chi Minh City alone, out of 475 "convenience stores", as many as 350 belong to foreign groups.
Many Vietnamese do not like this state of affairs and Nguyen Tien Vuong, deputy general manager of the Ha Noi Trade Corporation (Hapro), has accused the actions of the authorities, denouncing the lack of commensurate planning for the distribution of retail businesses to the demand of the local population. Thus, Vietnamese companies would have lost a fundamental support in deciding where to locate the shops and how to manage the distribution networks. "Sellers like Hapro" he said "need specific policies from the government, policies that include planning of retail activities, especially for new development areas, and adequate information on consumer demand." "Lacking all this," he added, "some of the major global retail chains have had a free hand and entire buildings with foreign brands have sprung up next to the local shops, making it impossible for the Vietnamese to compete with foreign giants."
Attachments: The Vietnam News article
