Aeon Vietnam Company Limited, under Japanese retailer Aeon, and local business Viet Phat Group JSC kicked off the construction of a 13-hectare mall, with an investment of VND5,200 billion ($214 million) on Monday.
The facility, located near the famous tourism destination Ha Long Bay, is designed to serve 10 million customers a year with the employment of about 2,500 staff. The project in Vietnam’s northern province of Quang Ninh features 9.1 hectares for the shopping areas and 3.92 hectares for connecting traffic infrastructure.
Speaking at the event, Quang Ninh Chairman Cao Tuong Huy asked relevant agencies to support the investors in conducting the project, towards completion and operation in the last quarter of 2025.
He also highlighted the project is in line with Quang Ninh’s development plan 2021-2030, with a focus on service-tourism. The mall would help transform the province into a hub of farm produce promotion and consumption, the provincial leader added.
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.
The company plans to expand the 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.
Per its medium-term (2023-2025) plan, the company will open more outlets in Vietnam, including one in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue. Construction of Aeon Mall Hue began in February 2023 and a grand opening is planned in the second half of 2024.
Aeon earned operating revenues of JPY7,155 million ($48.3 million) in Vietnam in the first half of fiscal year 2023 (March-August 2023), up 20.7% year-on-year. In its quarterly report, the retailer said its operating income in Vietnam for the six-month period rose 36.6% to JPY1,992 million ($13.4 million). The figure was the company’s highest in ASEAN and second-highest in the world behind China.