Aeon Mall builds first outlet in central Vietnam

The construction of Aeon Mall Hue in Thua Thien-Hue province, with an investment of VND3,916 billion ($167 million), kicked off on Saturday.

The mall, located in the An Van Duong urban area, An Dong ward, Hue town, will cover 86,216 square meters, including 50,000 square meters for a commercial center.

The eight-floor mall, featuring food & beverage services, a kids playground, for-lease kiosks, warehouses, conference areas, among other facilities, is set to come into operation before April 2025.

This will be the biggest service and trade center in Vietnam's central region, adding values to Hue as a top tourist attraction. Hue was home to the Nguyen Dynasty, the last dynasty in Vietnam, and has the Citadel City, a UNESCO cultural heritage site.

Aeon is operating six malls in the country - two in Hanoi, one in Hai Phong city, two in Ho Chi Minh City, and one in nearby Binh Duong province. The retailer in 2020 said it would invest $2 billion expanding its presence across Vietnam, eyeing a total 25 malls by 2025.

The Japanese group entered the Vietnamese market in 2013, with the first mall located in HCMC. In July 2022, the giant surveyed locations in the southern province of Binh Duong for its second shopping mall there. The $95 million Aeon Binh Duong Canary, the first one in the industrial hub neighboring HCMC, covers seven hectares in Thuan An town.

Last December, Aeon signed a memorandum of understanding with Hai Duong authorities to build a mall in the northern province. The mall will be located in the southern urban area of Hai Duong town near Vo Nguyen Giap boulevard.

Hanoi this week approved a draft plan for the city's third Aeon Mall, which will cover 8.03 hectares in Dai Kim and Thinh Liet wards, Hoang Mai district.

Yakabe Yoshinori, Consul General of Japan in Da Nang, said that Thua Thien-Hue is located on the East-West economic corridor. The province also boasts convenient traffic, cheap industrial park rental, and key national universities with Hue University among the most prominent, which can easily ensure high-quality human resources. "Therefore, it has very good conditions for Japanese companies to invest in," he said.

Danang, a neighbor of Hue, is an economic and tourism hub in central Vietnam.