Vietnam’s northern province of Bac Giang is preparing for the construction of a $250-million Aeon Mall, scheduled to start in June, said Bac Giang Vice Chairman Le O Pich.
The provincial leader made the statement while making a Lunar New Year (Tet) visit on Tuesday to Aeon Mall Vietnam, under Japanese retailer Aeon. The project is expected to boost the socioeconomic growth of the province and attract more foreign investors to the locality, Pich added.
In reply, Aeon Mall Vietnam CEO Nakagawa Tetsuyuki said he appreciated Bac Giang’s support for the project and called on the province to continue facilitating its implementation.
In December 2023, Aeon and Bac Giang authorities signed a memorandum of understanding on building a mall, with an investment of $250 million. The signing took place within the Vietnam-Japan Economic Forum held in Tokyo as part of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s four-day visit to Japan.
Bac Giang is an emerging manufacturing hub in northern Vietnam. In January, the province attracted a total of $197.7 million in registered foreign direct investment, the third-highest figure in Vietnam, only behind Hanoi with $867.3 million and Ba Ria-Vung Tau province with $281.8 million, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
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. For 2024, Aeon plans to open one more mall in Vietnam in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue.
The company plans to expand its network to 25 in Vietnam by 2025, with new malls planned in the provinces of Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Thanh Hoa, Thua Thien-Hue, Hai Duong, Nam Dinh, and others.
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 fiscal year ending February 2024. The company 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.