VietNamNet Bridge – Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang said that 97 percent of the total goods in the market are distributed by Vietnamese businesses, while foreign retailers hold only 3 percent.

Hoang spoke on a TV program several days ago to allay the public fears that Vietnamese retail chains would be taken over by foreign ones and that foreign-made products would be displayed at supermarkets instead of Vietnamese goods.

Hoang said that Vietnam had been following a cautious roadmap on opening the retail market, and that only some foreign retail brands are now present in Vietnam.

“The foreign retailers can open their second and subsequent retail points only if their plans get approval from central and local agencies,” Hoang said.

His words helped to ease the public’s worry that the Vietnamese market would fall into foreigners’ hands, following news about foreign retailers’ expansion in Vietnam.

Thai BJC, for example, is on its way to take over Metro Vietnam, while PowerBuy has announced a deal to buy Nguyen Kim, a Vietnamese retail chain with 21 home appliance distribution points nationwide.

The Central Group Vietnam has been expanding its presence in Vietnam through Robins shopping mall chain in Hanoi and HCM City, SuperSports, Crocs and New Balance shops.

Meanwhile, Japanese-owned Aeon launched two Aeon shopping malls in HCM City and Binh Duong province in 2014, and French Casino has been opening new Big C supermarkets.

Dinh Thi My Loan, deputy chair and secretary general of the Vietnam Retailers’ Association, noted that Vietnamese goods available at supermarkets account for less than 50 percent of the total goods on display.

Vietnamese goods are rarely seen at home appliance centers, and not seen at boutiques and high-end shops.

Government officials and economists still argue about what “Vietnamese goods” means, because the minimum percentage of locally made parts of products has not been defined.

Some believe that any product made in Vietnamese territory should be listed as Vietnamese goods, while others say that products made by foreign-invested enterprises must not be “Vietnamese goods”.

Pham Chi Lan, a renowned economist, said that many kinds of “Vietnamese goods” were actually “foreign-made products”.

State management agencies, when calling on Vietnamese consumers to buy Vietnamese goods, also said Vietnamese goods are products made in Vietnam.

And therefore, their reports about domestic production affirmed that the majority of the products displayed at supermarkets are “Vietnamese”.

“Even products made by Vietnamese enterprises are not 100 percent Vietnamese, because 70-80 percent of the products’ contents are made of imports,” she noted.

Dat Viet