7-Eleven starts hiring ahead of Vietnam debut

Japan’s convenience store chain 7-Eleven has started hiring staff for its Vietnam operation, as it seeks to expand retail business to one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies.

The retailer is looking for full-time staff, including shop manager, salesperson, shop developer, marketing associate and trainer, all to be based in Ho Chi Minh City, Seven System Viet Nam Company said in a statement Monday.

In 2015 7-Eleven’s U.S. subsidiary signed with the firm a licensing agreement to open stores in the Southeast Asian country.

The date of opening or the number of outlets planned for the city are not yet disclosed. 7-Eleven has said the first store was expected in spring 2017.

The launch of 7-Eleven stores is believed to heat the stiff competition among foreign investors in Vietnam’s retail market, which has grown at around 10 percent annually in recent years, and sales are likely to reach $109 billion in 2017, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit.

7-Eleven, owned by Japan’s Seven & I Holdings, is an international chain of convenience stores with over 60,000 stores across 17 countries and territories. It has stores in five Southeast Asian markets, namely Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia.