Ho Chi Minh City promotes its role as an economic - commercial - consumption center not only domestically but also in the entire Southeast Asian region - Photo: QUANG DINH
Sharing at the seminar "Ho Chi Minh City Development Space - Motivation from building supply and retail chains" organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade and Tuoi Tre newspaper on the afternoon of July 11, many retail businesses and goods suppliers were happy with Ho Chi Minh City becoming a large metropolis after the merger.
This will create a huge market for retailers and traders to exploit.
Unlocking potential
Mr. Le Truong Son - Deputy General Director of Saigon Co.op - said that the retailer is planning to take advantage of new development space and serve customers better - Photo: QUANG DINH
Mr. Le Truong Son - Deputy General Director of Saigon Co.op - said that modern retail channels account for about 30% of the market share, the rest are grocery stores and traditional markets, so the Vietnamese retail industry is quite diverse, each channel has an important role, this is even more evident during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Saigon Co.op representative said that the merger will help the consumer market in Ho Chi Minh City become larger, retail businesses will proactively plan to harmonize with the new development space, and serve customers better.
Mr. Paul Le believes that if logistics costs are optimized, retail sales can increase 3-4 times - Photo: QUANG DINH
Mr. Paul Le - Vice President in charge of trade promotion, Central Retail Group Vietnam - is happy "because from now on the city will be more populous, the number of consumers will also be larger".
Mr. Paul Le also pointed out the obstacles that prevent the retail industry from developing in large markets. These are limited logistics conditions, delivery and preservation conditions, lack of cold storage, etc. Therefore, if the logistics infrastructure is more complete and costs are better, the movement of retail goods will increase sharply, for example, the amount of lychee sold can be 3-4 times higher than at present.
"We proactively bring international goods to Vietnam and bring Vietnamese goods to the world , but the important thing is how logistics is organized to bring world goods to the 14 million people in the new city and bring goods from the new Ho Chi Minh City to the world," he said.
The seminar recorded many opinions to develop the retail and e-commerce industry for the "super city" of Ho Chi Minh City closer to reality, which is to promote distribution, promote digital transformation...
Mr. Tran Quoc Bao - Deputy General Director of KIDO Group and CEO of E2E e-commerce channel - Photo: QUANG DINH
According to Mr. Tran Quoc Bao - Deputy General Director of KIDO Group and CEO of E2E e-commerce channel - with the new space of Ho Chi Minh City, in terms of e-commerce, Vietnam ranks third in Southeast Asia and is likely to soon rank second in growth rate, surpassing Thailand. Mr. Bao proposed to unlock potential, have techniques, skills and choose which products to put on the floor, to avoid conflicts between distribution channels.
"Now we should focus on distribution, not necessarily promote too much. Let's concretize it with practical activities, to surpass Thailand, to become the second country in e-commerce in Southeast Asia," Mr. Tran Quoc Bao suggested.
Boosting distribution and digital transformation to surpass Thailand
Sharing the same view, Mr. Phan Manh Ha - director of foreign affairs of e-commerce platform Shopee - also commented that Vietnam is not inferior to Thailand in terms of e-commerce. "Shopee Vietnam is developing better than Shopee Thailand. The commercial potential is already there, Ho Chi Minh City is now a mega-urban center, so the potential is even greater," said Mr. Ha.
Mr. Phan Manh Ha - External Affairs Director of Shopee Vietnam - said that there is a large gap in digital transformation between urban and rural areas - Photo: QUANG DINH
This businessman also worries about the fact that in rural areas, e-commerce or digital transformation is not as good as in urban areas, and small and medium enterprises and small traders cannot grasp business trends as quickly as large enterprises.
"How to encourage more small traders to convert to digital and participate deeply in e-commerce? We must communicate the benefits of e-commerce to small traders because only when they see the benefits will they join us," Mr. Ha said.
Dr. Dinh Cong Khai - Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics - Photo: QUANG DINH
From an expert perspective, Dr. Dinh Cong Khai - Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics - once again affirmed that the megacity of Ho Chi Minh City will contribute to promoting consumption. According to Dr. Khai, the logistics and retail industry in Vietnam in general and Ho Chi Minh City in particular is currently at an average level, still slow compared to developed countries.
The reason is that previously, logistics was built locally and fragmentedly in each locality. This also led to high logistics costs, resulting in low exploitation capacity. However, after merging the two provinces of Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Binh Duong into Ho Chi Minh City, this is an opportunity for more synchronous and seamless construction.
"We must transform digitally and develop the scale of businesses. The State, businesses, and schools must work together to promote trade growth," said Dr. Khai.
Mr. Nguyen Van Dung - Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee - affirmed that the city needs to synchronously implement many drastic and creative solutions - Photo: QUANG DINH
At the seminar, Mr. Nguyen Van Dung - Vice Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee - emphasized that in order to realize the vision of developing a modern "super city", the city needs to synchronously deploy many drastic and creative solutions.
Firstly , it is recommended that the Government consider issuing a specific mechanism to support Ho Chi Minh City in developing modern trade and logistics infrastructure, promoting comprehensive digital transformation, and promoting the development of green economy and circular economy in the supply chain. This is the basis for the city to promote its role as an economic - trade - consumption center not only in Vietnam but also in Southeast Asia.
Second, we request state management agencies, experts, and guest speakers to continue to accompany, share international experiences, and contribute more practical solutions to help the city remove bottlenecks in supply chain development, especially solutions to synchronously develop the logistics ecosystem, and increase connectivity between production - circulation - consumption sectors.
Third, assign advisory agencies and units (Department of Industry and Trade, Department of Construction, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, City Tax, Customs Branch, Management Board of Export Processing Zones, Industrial Parks, High-Tech Parks and related units):
- Proactively review and update relevant development plans and projects to ensure compliance with the orientation of expanding urban space and developing trade and services in a modern, effective and sustainable manner.
- Strengthen inter-sectoral and inter-regional coordination in developing solutions to promote the development of trade and logistics infrastructure, expand distribution networks, digitally transform retail activities, and apply technology in supply chain management.
City leaders especially emphasized the need to integrate requirements for green economic development, circularity, efficient energy use and low emissions into commercial infrastructure projects such as logistics centers, wholesale markets, and retail centers.
The city will also encourage pilot models that are flexible, innovative, business-centric and people-driven in the transformation process.
Tuoi Tre Newspaper opens forum to contribute ideas for developing the trade sector for the megacity of Ho Chi Minh City
At the seminar, Mr. Tran Xuan Toan - Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Tuoi Tre Newspaper - said that in order to record all opinions of experts and readers, Tuoi Tre Newspaper continues to receive everyone's comments and contributions to the development of Ho Chi Minh City's trade sector through the Ho Chi Minh City Forum: Building a modern and sustainable supply and retail chain in the new period. The forum will last from July to September 2025.
Please send any comments to email address: [email protected]
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/14-trieu-dan-o-tp-hcm-moi-la-co-hoi-lon-cho-nganh-ban-le-20250711194001144.htm
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