Japan retailer Aeon to build $190 mln mall in Vietnam, plans 2 more in 2024

Japanese retailer Aeon will build a $190 million mall in Vietnam’s northern province of Bac Ninh and two others in Quang Ninh and Thanh Hoa this year.

The Japanese retailer and Bac Ninh authorities exchanged documents for the move on Sunday, within a conference held to announce the provincial master plan and promote investment in the northern province.

Aeon plans to conduct the project in 2024-2025. Aeon and Bac Ninh authorities had signed a memorandum of understanding for the mall construction in March 2022.

At the event, Bac Ninh province, an industrial hub in northern Vietnam, also granted in-principle approvals or investment registration certificates to projects worth $5.58 billion.

On the same day, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a meeting with an Aeon delegation on the sidelines of the event. Aeon Mall Vietnam CEO Nakagawa Tetsuyuki said Aeon is committed to making long-term investments in Vietnam.

Last weekend, Aeon officially opened Aeon Hue mall in Thua Thien Hue province, the first Aeon mall in the central region and the seventh in the country.

Aeon is confident that the mall will make a major contribution to the province’s socioeconomic development, said the executive.

For long-term investments, Aeon recently received investment registration certificates for two malls: one in Ha Long town, a top tourist attraction in the northern province of Quang Ninh; and one in Thanh Hoa town, capital of the central province of Thanh Hoa.

In reply, PM Chinh asked local authorities to help Aeon kick off the construction of the two malls this year. He also suggested Aeon to make similar investments in other provinces, including Khanh Hoa, Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Nghe An, as those locations can boost the Vietnam-Japan supply chain.

At present, Aeon operates seven malls in the country – two in Hanoi, one in Hai Phong city, one in Thua Thien Hue, two in Ho Chi Minh City, and one in nearby Binh Duong province.

The giant retailer earned an operating income of JPY1,332 million ($8.44 million) in Vietnam in the first quarter of its fiscal year 2024 (March-May 2024), up 21.9% year-on-year. It recorded operating revenues of JPY4,013 million ($25.42 million) in the three-month period, up 13.8% year-on-year.