JBIC, Mizuho Bank provide $41 mln loans to retailer Aeon Vietnam

Two Japanese leading lenders - the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Mizuho Bank - said they are providing Aeon Vietnam with a total of $41 million in loans.

Of the sum, $24 million is from JBIC and $17 million from Mizuho Bank, according to a Nikkei Asia report on Tuesday. The funding will finance the opening of two new stores, one in the southern province of Binh Duong, and the other in Long An province. Both provinces border Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern economic hub.

Aeon Vietnam, with its head office in HCMC, did not respond to The Investor’s calls for comment.

The JBIC loan also aims at supporting the creation of a distribution network for Japanese food ingredients and processed food in Vietnam through Aeon's stores, according to Nikkei Asia.

Japanese-invested Aeon Vietnam imports many items from Japan and procures many items from Japanese-owned plants operating in Vietnam.

Aeon entered Vietnam in 2013 and opened its first Vietnam megamall in HCMC early that year. It now has seven operational malls in the country with two in HCMC, one in Binh Duong province, three in Hanoi, and one in the northern port city of Hai Phong. The giant is seeking to expand its Vietnam mall network to 25 by 2025 and has earmarked around $1 billion for the purpose.

The Japanese largest retailer sees Vietnam as the most important market in its overseas strategy. Not just the megamall, Aeon has diversified its network to include MaxValu, a mid-sized supermarket.

Aeon signed an agreement last October with Boxed, an American online platform which sells household consumables in bulk and licenses its e-commerce software through its Spresso Software and Services Division. Under the agreement, Aeon will launch Boxed’s end-to-end software and services platform in the Vietnamese market with Aeon Vietnam.

Also regarding financing in Vietnam, JBIC, Mizuho Bank and two other Japanese lenders – Joyo Bank and Shiga Bank – are providing funding totalling $300 million to renewable energy firms in the country to support its decarbonization efforts.

The four banks provide the funds via Vietnamese leading lender Vietcombank under a deal signed in Hanoi late this March, with $165 million from JBIC, a Japanese government-linked bank.