Construction of $250 mln Aeon mall in Dong Nai province to start in 2025

The construction of an Aeon mall in Vietnam’s southern province of Dong Nai with an investment of VND6,112 billion ($248.3 million) is set to begin in the first quarter of 2025, the provincial Department of Planning and Investment said.

Covering 12 hectares in Bien Hoa town, the project is scheduled to begin processing administrative procedures in March or April this year for completion by Q4/2024. It will enter first phase operations in Q2/2027, and enter second phase construction and operations between Q1/2035 and Q2/2038.

In May 2022, Aeon Mall Vietnam, under Japanese retailer Aeon, and Dong Nai authorities signed a memorandum of understanding for the construction of the mall in Bien Hoa town.

In September 2023, Dong Nai province began collecting applications for investors in the project, and in November 2023 it announced that Viet Phat Group was the only applicant. The provincial authorities approved Viet Phat Group as the investor for the project in December 2023.

Viet Phat Group is also known as the developer of a 13-hectare Aeon mall, with an investment of VND5,200 billion ($214 million), in the northern province of Quang Ninh. Aeon Vietnam and Viet Phat Group kicked off the construction of the project on January 1.

There are six Aeon mall outlets in Vietnam: two each in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and one each in the southern province of Binh Duong and northern city of Hai Phong.

Aeon earned an operating revenue of JPY10,958 million ($73.9 million) in Vietnam from March-November 2023, up 16.6% year-on-year, according to the firm’s report for the first three quarters of its fiscal year ending February 2024.

The firm made an operating income of JPY2,879 million ($19.4 million) in Vietnam, up 25.8% year-on-year, “despite the impact of slowing economic growth stemming from sluggish external demand and power shortages,” the retailer said.