Aeon to spend $200 mln for 2nd mall in its Hanoi expansion plan

Japanese retailer Aeon is planning to pour $200 million into its second shopping mall in Hanoi this year, a company official said, which would see its investment in Vietnam’s capital nearly doubling.

The new facility covers an area of 9.5 hectares (23.5 acres) in Ha Dong District, Hanoi’s largest suburb by population. It is scheduled to come into operation at the end of 2019.

That will be the fifth shopping mall Aeon has opened in Vietnam, after its first unit was launched outside Ho Chi Minh City’s downtown in January 2014.

Vietnam’s retail market, drawing attention by retail giants such as Japan’s 7-Eleven, Swedish fashion firm H&M and Thailand’s Central Group, is listed in the top five in Southeast Asia and ranked 11th globally in terms of growth rate, based on the A.T. Kearny 2016 Global Retail Development Index.

Vietnamese people are gradually shifting away from traditional retail channels to modern retail stores and centers. Spending at supermarkets, convenience stores, and shopping malls, as opposed to traditional local shops, is expected to rise to 40 percent of consumer spending by 2020, from 25 percent currently, government data show.

The government has projected the retail market’s value to hit $179 billion by 2020, up 52 percent from last year.

Aeon is the largest retailer in Asia with a network of around 300 consolidated subsidiaries and 26 equity-affiliated companies, ranging from convenience store chains and supermarkets to shopping malls and specialty stores.

In Southeast Asia outside Vietnam, the Japan-based company is also running one shopping mall in Cambodia and two others in Indonesia. It plans to open the second facility in Cambodia in the summer of 2018 and two more in Indonesia within that year.