General Director of AEON Mall Vietnam Iwamura Yasutsugu (L) meets with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in Hanoi on June 20. (Photo: VNA)
At a meeting in Hanoi with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on June 20, Yasutsugu Iwamura, General Director of AEON Mall Vietnam said the retailer has an intention to invest $280 million to build a shopping mall in the south of Hanoi by 2020.
While the exact location of the shopping mall was not disclosed, Iwamura said that the group highly expected to gain supports from the local government and relevant ministries in order to soon turn the project into reality.
The Government leader voiced his support for the establishment of the mall in the south of Hanoi and later asked the local authority to create favorable conditions for the group, including the zoning adjustment by the city to make room for the commercial center.
PM Phuc also urged AEON to consume and export more Vietnamese products to Japan, reported the Vietnam News Agency.
There are plans to build 20 malls by 2025, Yasutsugu revealed. At present, AEON already has four in Ho Chi Minh City (AEON Mall Tan Phu Celadon and AEON Mall Binh Tan), Hanoi and Binh Duong province (AEON MALL Binh Duong Canary), along with two others under construction in Hanoi and Hai Phong.
AEON is also known to also invest $180 million to build a shopping mall on an area of 9.3 hectares in Le Chan district in Haiphong. The building is scheduled to open next year.
AEON Mall Long Bien in Hanoi.
The first AEON mall in Hanoi is located in Long Bien district, East of the capital city. The second one, which are under construction, is in the Southwestern district Ha Dong with a total floor area of 200,000 square metres, which projected to be put into operation later on this year.
Should the project get the green light from the government, it will become the third shopping centre of the Japanese retailer in Hanoi.
AEON hopes to have a strategic partnership with Vietnam, increasing exports of its agricultural products to Japan for sale through its system, Yasutsugu added.
The retailer giant plans to double imports from Vietnam to $500 million next year with the country likely to become a high-quality supplier of food to Japanese consumers, and double again to $1 billion by 2025. In 2018, AEON's imports were worth $245 million, with clothing making up 55 percent.
AEON aims to make a positive contribution to Vietnam’s social security, he said.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc is in talks with Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Kunio Umeda in Hanoi on June 20. (Photo: VGP)
On the same day, the prime minister also received Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Kunio Umeda to discuss measures to promote cooperation between the two countries.
The PM asked the diplomat to express his thanks to his Japanese counterpart, Shinzō Abe, for inviting him to attend the 2019 G20 Osaka summit, the 14th meeting of the Group of Twenty, and visit the Northeast Asian country later this month.
The trip will be made at a time when the extensive Vietnam-Japan strategic partnership is flourishing in various spheres, he said.
Ambassador Umeda said that Japanese businesses plan to expand investment in Vietnam, a country with great potential that is creating conducive conditions for investors.
He also pointed out several problems in bilateral cooperation that need to be addressed, such as those related to education, training, investment and trade.
In response, the PM suggested the ambassador coordinate with Vietnamese authorities to ensure that his upcoming visit to Japan will reap the best possible outcomes, thereby lifting the countries’ cooperation efforts to new heights in all fields, including the economy, trade and investment.
As partners, the two sides have great political trust in each other, the leader said, adding that he also welcomes stronger people-to-people and cultural exchange.
