Aeon, Walmart, Lulu... build strategies to expand market to Vietnam

Large corporations such as Aeon, Walmart, Central Retail, Lulu... are all planning to expand their market to Vietnam in 2024.

Deeply involved in global supply chain

According to Vietnam Customs data, in the first quarter of 2024, the total import-export turnover of goods reached 178.04 billion USD, an increase of 15.5% over the same period last year. Of which, the export turnover of goods reached 93.06 billion USD, an increase of 17%; the import turnover reached 84.98 billion USD, an increase of 13.9%. The trade balance of goods had a surplus of 8.08 billion USD.

Particularly for the Europe - America market area, in the first quarter of 2024, the total import and export turnover of goods reached 55.6 billion USD, an increase of 20.4% over the same period in 2021.

Of which, the export turnover of goods reached 44.9 billion USD, up 21.6%; the import turnover reached 10.7 billion USD, up 15.7%. The trade surplus of the Europe - America region reached 34.2 billion USD.

Vietnam has now become an important link in the global supply chain.

Mr. Ta Hoang Linh, Director of the European - American Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that Vietnam has now become an important link in the global supply chain. Currently, Vietnam has more and more factories that meet the world's green and clean standards, attracting multi-industry and single-industry supermarket chains, supply chains for specialized Asian and European customers...

Agreeing with this opinion, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoang Thuy, Vietnam Trade Counselor in Sweden and concurrently in charge of the Nordic countries, shared: “In the Nordic market alone, large corporations in the field of furniture and household goods such as FH (Denmark), IKEA (Sweden), or key Asian food import enterprises such as Scanesia (Norway), East Asia (Sweden)… have a more or less positive view of the Vietnamese market in general and Vietnamese exports in particular. Currently, many new products are being introduced to this market, from frozen Vietnamese bread to shredded green papaya…”

Large corporations have expansion strategies.

In recent years, Vietnam has been transforming strongly to become a major global manufacturing center with the ability to supply the world market with a variety of products, types, and competitive prices, and increasingly improved quality.

Therefore, many corporations and retail and wholesale distribution channels are promoting diversification strategies, ensuring sustainable supply sources and have chosen Vietnam as a strategic location in their global supply chains.

Major corporations are planning to expand their market in Vietnam.

According to Mr. Yuichiro Shiotani, Director of Aeon Topvalu, the import of Vietnamese goods through Aeon's system has doubled compared to the previous period. This result is the effort of the business as well as the connection and facilitation of the authorities.

Last year, Aeon connected with many new partners and exported fresh bananas to many Asian markets. During the 2024 Vietnam International Sourcing 2024 event this year, Aeon plans to invite more buyers from Thailand and Cambodia to the event to connect and purchase... Aeon's goal is to export one billion USD worth of Vietnamese goods through the Aeon system by 2025.

Mr. Mirash Basheer, Director of May Exports Vietnam Company, Lulu Group informed that for the Vietnamese market, the company has conducted research to have sources of goods to export to the Middle East.

“Our direction is to develop a number of logistics centers in Vietnam, specifically in Ho Chi Minh City and some neighboring provinces to purchase bananas and coffee. We are starting some processes and have mobilized some buyers in the group such as Kuwait, Qatar to participate in Vietnam International Sourcing 2024 this year,” Mr. Mirash Basheer shared.

On Walmart's side, according to Mr. Nguyen Duc Trong, Head of New Supplier Development, currently, out of 500 Vietnamese enterprises supplying goods to Walmart, the majority are FDI enterprises, Vietnamese-owned enterprises account for a small proportion and are mainly secondary suppliers.

Therefore, to meet the need for expansion and diversification of supply sources in Vietnam, in the coming time, this group will expand recruitment of employees in Vietnam.

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