Hanoi (VNA) 🗹– Hanoi should work harder to promote the added value and quality of trade, a key economic sector of the city, creating a driving force for the country's economy, according to experts.

According to the municipal Department of Industry and Trade, the trade sector has greatly expanded in scale over the years. The city has 28 trade centres, 142 supermarkets and 1,840 convenience stores, and 455 traditional markets.  Thanks to its attractiveness and potential, many well-known foreign brands such as AEON from Japan and Lotte from the Republic of Korea have constantly increased their presence in the capital city, contributing to enhancing the experience for consumers, promoting the consumption of Vietnamese goods and increasing the value of domestic products. General Director of AEON Vietnam Furusawa Yasuyuki said that AEON Group considers Vietnam the second key market after Japan in developing business activities. He revealed that AEON's goal is to open 30 shopping malls in Vietnam by 2030, focusing on big cities, including Hanoi. Tran Thi Phuong Lan, Acting Director of the Hanoi Department of Industry and Trade, said that in addition to the system of supermarkets and trade centres, the capital's consumers are also familiar with convenience store chains and new grocery models, such as Winmart, Co.op Food, Ecofood, Tomita, or electronics supermarkets such as Nguyen Kim, Mobile World and Media Mart. She said that the strong development of modern retail forms is one of the outstanding highlights in the economic development of the capital city. Economist Nguyen Minh Phong held that trade and services make great contributions to the growth of the capital city’s Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP), showing that trade, services and the domestic market are always the backbones of the economy. Hanoi plays the role not only as a big economic and international transaction centre but a driving force of the Red River Delta region and the whole country. Although accounting for only 1% of the area and 8.5% of the population of the country, Hanoi contributes over 16% to the national GDP, 18.5% to budget revenue, 20% to domestic income and 8.6% to total import and export turnover, with an estimated per capita income of 5,420 USD, an increase of 1.5 times compared to 2015 and 1.8 times higher than the national average. Until 2025, Hanoi aims at fast and sustainable growth towards a green, smart and modern city with high competitiveness in the country and region, completing the industrialisation and modernisation goals with a per capita GRDP of 8,300-8,500 USD. By 2030, the city expects to become green, smart and modern, with a per capita GRDP of 12,000-13,000 USD. In the 2016-2020 period, the GRDP of Hanoi was always at a high level and higher than the country's average, expanding 7.16% in 2016, 7.27% in 2017, 7.46% in 2018, 7.63% in 2019, and 3.98% in 2020 amid COVID-19. According to Lan, to further promote the trade sector's growth, in the coming time, the city plans to develop three additional trade centres, 10 supermarkets and 100 convenience stores to further trade activities and promote the sector's added value and quality. To this end, Hanoi will attract more investment in various trade types while supporting businesses to remove difficulties and obstacles and speeding up the progress of new construction projects. Rebuilding and renovating markets, trade centres and supermarkets in the area to build Hanoi into a centre of international trade and transaction in the region and the whole country. The role and position of Hanoi is increasingly confirmed as it has set up diplomatic relations with more than 100 cities and capitals of countries around the world, said Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Dinh Tien Dung./.