Hanoi (VNA) – The Mekong Delta is emerging as adestination for both domestic and foreign retail companies who have spottedpotential in the local retail market, the Cong Thuong (Industry & Trade)newspaper reported.

Major retailers such as Lotte (the Republic ofKorea), Saigon Co.op, Big C and Vingroup have been present in the Mekong Deltawith Sense City, Vincom, Lotte Mart and Co.opmart supermarkets.

Can Tho city – the centre of the Mekong Delta – isnow home to 18 supermarkets and shopping malls, 18 convenience stores, and anumber of food stores.

The Saigon Trading Group (SATRA) said it plansto form a big retail system in Can Tho. In the near future, it will openSatrafoods – a food store chain and later develop Centre Mall shopping centresand Satramart supermarkets here.

Huynh Trung Tru, Deputy Director of the Can Thomunicipal Department of Industry and Trade, said the city’s turnover of retailgoods and services revenue is expected to surpass 105 trillion VND (4.6 billionUSD) this year, up 9.87 percent from 2016.

Since the year’s beginning, Dong Thap provincehas permitted the construction of a shopping centre named Shophouse Sa Dec ofVincom Retail and two Co.opmart supermarkets of Saigon Co.op.

In other provinces such as An Giang, Vinh Long,Tra Vinh and Ca Mau, investment is also being poured strongly into modernretail channels such as supermarkets and convenience stores.

Deputy Director General of Saigon Co.op NguyenAnh Duc said his firm put Sense City Ca Mau in Ca Mau province into operationin late May. This is the third shopping malls of Saigon Co.op in the MekongDelta. Aside from shopping malls, Saigon Co.op has also built 20 Co.opmartsupermarkets across the region.

The company is stepping up capitalising on theMekong Delta’s retail market due to improving living standards of localresidents and authorities’ favourable conditions for investment insupermarkets. It will continue seeking suitable locations in the region to openmore supermarkets in the time ahead, he added.

According to the Steering Committee for theSouthwestern Region, the expansion of the retail system in the Mekong Delta hasgradually changed locals’ shopping habits.

However, there still exist obstacles to theattraction of retail investment there.

Le Huu Tinh, Marketing Director of EmartVietnam, said despite substantial improvement, infrastructure in the MekongDelta is still limited, which will raise delivery costs. Poor roads will alsoaffect consumers’ access to shopping places.

At the same time, the local distribution systemlacks connectivity and traditional wet markets, numbering about 1,800 acrossthe region, are still popular. Therefore, Mekong Delta localities shouldswiftly address those shortcomings to bolster their retail market, manyeconomic experts said.-VNA