Japan retailer Aeon begins building $164 mln mall in central Vietnam

Aeon Mall Vietnam, under Japanese retail giant Aeon Mall, kicked off the construction of its VND4,157 ($163.8 million) Aeon Mall Thanh Hoa in the central province of Thanh Hoa on Monday.

The 10.5-hectare mall has a total floor area of 12 hectares. It is the largest Aeon mall in Vietnam so far. The project, located in Thanh Hoa town, is set to become operational in the latter half of 2026.

The construction took place three years after an MoU was signed between Aeon and Thanh Hoa authorities in November 2021.

Speaking at the event, Daisuke Isobe, director and general manager of the overseas business division at Aeon Mall, highlighted Thanh Hoa’s advantages, including its population as the third-biggest one in Vietnam, and the well-developed infrastructure featuring a deep-water seaport, airport, and expressways.

To date, there are seven Aeon outlets in Vietnam: two each in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City; and one each in the southern province of Binh Duong, the northern city of Hai Phong and the central province of Thua Thien Hue. Of these, the latest to open is in Thua Thien Hue.

Aeon is building two more malls in Vietnam, one in northern province of Quang Ninh and one in the Mekong Delta province of Long An.

In its March-August 2024 (first half of fiscal year 2024) review, Aeon said it made an operating income of JPY2,414 million ($16.2 million) in Vietnam, up 21.2% year-on-year, on operating revenues of JPY8,192 million ($54.9 million), up 14.5%.