Uniqlo, a clothing chain under Japanese retailer Fast Retailing, aims to open two stores next year and one factory in the southern province of Binh Duong, says Sato Ryota, CEO of Uniqlo Vietnam.
At a meeting with Binh Duong authorities last Friday, the executive proposed that the province helps the firm find suitable locations for the stores.
In reply, Binh Duong Vice Chairman Mai Hung Dung said the provincial administration and Becamex IDC, a leading industrial property developer in the country, would help Uniqlo with the task.
Last month, Uniqlo opened its latest Vietnam store at the Vincom Ba Trieu mall in Hanoi, covering about 2,000 square meters. The next two stores, as part of its plan of having 15 stores, are at the Vincom Royal City and Vincom Tran Duy Hung malls, also in the capital city, covering 1,500 sqm and 2,000 sqm, respectively.
After it entered Vietnam in 2019, Uniqlo has opened 13 outlets - five in Hanoi, one in the northern city of Haiphong and seven in Ho Chi Minh City.
In the first 10 months of the year, Binh Duong province attracted $2.74 billion of foreign direct investment (FDI), up 57% year-on-year, the second-highest figure in Vietnam, official data shows. They included $1.87 billion of registered capital for 58 new projects, $20 million of additional capital for 18 operational projects, and $849 million of share purchases in 138 projects.
The manufacturing and processing sector accounted for the biggest portion of $1.66 billion, or 63.5% of the total. Denmark, with its mega project of a $1-billion Lego factory, was biggest investor in the period with $1.32 billion, or 50.4% of the total.
So far, the southern province has attracted 4,053 FDI projects worth $39.6 billion, the second-highest figure in the country, only behind HCMC.
Becamex IDC is the Vietnamese partner in VSIP Co., a joint venture with Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries to build VSIP industrial parks across Vietnam.