HCMCity (VNA) – The retail sector plays a core role in Ho Chi MinhCity’s economic growth, heard a workshop held recently by the municipalDepartment of Industry and Trade to discuss building a list of key trade andservice products.

Experts said the service sector significantly contributed to the economic growthof the nation and HCM City in particular, adding that wholesale and retailtrade is now the largest part of the service sector.

Accordingto Deputy Director of the department Nguyen Phuong Dong, the trade and servicefield is a dynamic and high growth sector, making up 63.2 percent of the city'sGRDP, with annual average growth of 8.15 percent.

The city’s retail sector has been developing in the trend of developingcountries in the region and across the world, he said.

Vietnam’sretail market has considerable potential, with the rate of modern retaildistribution channels making up only 25 percent of the total retail sales, andmost supermarkets and trade centres are concentrated in big cities.

It is forecasted that by 2020, the rate of modern retail channels will increaseto 45 percent. The country will have about 1,200 - 1,300 supermarkets, while thenumber of trade centres will also increase to more than 300 and there could betens of thousands of convenience stores.

Representatives from the Saigon Union of Trading Co-operatives (SAIGONCO.OP) underlined the need to promote the development of modern retail sector byusing  modern technologies and e-commerce.

They said State agencies should pay attention to issues related to laws onmarket opening and investment commitments and support the domestic retailsector in the context that measures to protect domestic retailers from foreigninvestors are being reduced due to free trade agreements.

Domestic retailers should be also supported in accessing preferentialcapital and renting land, which will help them better compete with foreign firms.

HCM City can attract investment from Hong Kong (China) and China as thecountries are seeking to move their trade centres to neighbouring areas due to theongoing US-China trade war.

Nguyen Phuc Khoa, Deputy General Director of SaiGon Trading Company Limited (Satra), highlighted the importance ofmaking the modern retail sector a key product of HCM City.

Healso stressed the need to foster development of logistics supply chain for thesector as it is one of the biggest magnets to foreign investment, whichcontributes to creating differences in trade activities of the city.

There are currently 3,000 businesses capable of providing full logisticsservices and hundreds of thousands of others providing part of this kind ofservices, he said.
 
Participantssuggested municipal authorities increase investment to build logistics centres,noting that this will help the city improve its competitiveness.-VNA