Determined to become a major regional shopping mall

By 2030, Thanh Hoa City aims to become a major center for trade and shopping between the Northern and North Central regions of Vietnam, and parts of the Northwest and Northeast regions of Laos. Even now, the city is focusing its resources on promoting the development of its strong service sectors, contributing to building a dynamic and integrated Thanh Hoa City.

Co.op Mart supermarket in Thanh Hoa attracts many shoppers.

In recent years, Thanh Hoa City has consistently focused on and facilitated the development of trade and services. This includes investing in mixed-use commercial and service projects within urban areas, prioritizing large-scale shopping and tourism complexes combined with entertainment and recreation facilities at urban gateways. Simultaneously, the city has exploited its potential and advantages to develop services, with a focus on tourism, aiming to shift the economic structure and increase the proportion of services in the economy . This contributes to boosting consumption, local exports, creating jobs, and improving the lives of the people in a civilized and modern direction.

Recently, Thanh Hoa City organized and put into operation the Phan Chu Trinh pedestrian street, connected to the Lam Son Square cultural space, as a basis for the formation and development of the night-time economy. Simultaneously, it successfully organized the Cultural Week between Thanh Hoa City and Hoi An City, along with cultural and artistic activities, creating a highlight in the development of trade and services linked to tourism , attracting a large number of people, tourists, and businesses. In addition, food and beverage services have been invested in and expanded in scale, improving service quality. Many restaurants have spacious locations, offering both affordable and upscale dining options for locals and tourists. In the first eight months of 2024, the trade and service sector continued to show positive feedback. Retail sales of goods and services reached VND 128,587 billion, an increase of 14.1% compared to the same period in 2023.

With the goal of making services a key economic sector, the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa City has leveraged resources and taken advantage of support from the province and businesses to continue improving infrastructure serving tourism and trade. Tourism infrastructure has been improved, and tourism investment projects have developed in both quantity and scale. The province and city have decided to invest more than 324 billion VND to implement several key projects such as: the project to preserve and build a model for developing community-based ecotourism in Dong Son ancient village; the project to renovate and upgrade Hoi An Park; the project to build a flower road (from the foot of Ham Rong bridge to Tien Son cave)... The types of tourist accommodation facilities in the city are also becoming increasingly diverse and abundant with different scales and types. In recent years, many large hotels in the city have been invested in and upgraded with modern and synchronized infrastructure and equipment, capable of organizing events, high-level conferences, and cultural and tourism activities, such as Central Hotel, Vinpearl, Muong Thanh, Thien Y, Phuong Hoang, Dai Viet... This type of tourism is not dependent on seasons and extends the length of stay for tourists visiting Thanh Hoa City.

The goal is for Thanh Hoa City to become a major regional center for trade and shopping by 2030.

As the provincial urban center with a thriving economy and rising living standards, Thanh Hoa City has focused on developing a system of supermarkets, convenience stores, and markets through socialized initiatives, maximizing the entertainment, recreation, and shopping needs of its residents. Currently, the city has 12 supermarkets, 5 shopping malls, and 38 convenience stores that have been built on a modern scale and operate efficiently, meeting the shopping needs of the people. Besides investing to become a major shopping center, Thanh Hoa City is also actively developing modern commerce and services. The city has collaborated with relevant departments and agencies to bring various business and commercial activities onto digital platforms, connecting and supporting businesses and establishments in selling their products on e-commerce platforms. Shopping malls, supermarkets, convenience stores, and traditional markets have all been supported by technological solutions such as QR code scanning for product origin traceability; smart sales management software applications; and online payment via QR code scanning... All of these are implemented on digital platforms, and this is seen as the beginning of a transformation in people's shopping and consumption habits towards a more civilized and modern direction.

Mr. Nguyen Manh Thang, Deputy Head of the Economic Department of the Thanh Hoa City People's Committee, stated: "Investing in and developing trade, services, and tourism is considered a crucial factor in promoting socio-economic development, and is the face of the city in particular and Thanh Hoa province in general. Therefore, the city continues to focus on effectively implementing the planning for the development of commercial infrastructure, reviewing and supplementing plans in the area to ensure consistency and uniformity, as a basis for attracting investment projects, developing commercial infrastructure, and building and developing large, modern commercial centers in the city." Furthermore, the city is accelerating the implementation of key tourism development projects, focusing on developing distinctive tourism products and creating new types of tourism products such as cultural tourism, spiritual tourism, and MICE tourism. Simultaneously, it is developing more nighttime entertainment activities, street art performances, and culinary offerings. In addition, it is allocating capital to implement projects to renovate and upgrade traditional business streets such as Le Hoan, Cao Thang, Dinh Cong Trang, and Phan Chu Trinh, transforming them into bustling commercial areas, ensuring environmental hygiene and commercial civility. It is also continuing to effectively transform market management models, develop distribution systems, e-commerce systems, and retail networks aimed at directly serving consumers. Thanh Hoa City is determined to become a "major shopping and commercial center in the region."

Text and photos: Chi Pham

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/quyet-tam-tro-thanh-trung-tam-thuong-mai-mua-sam-lon-cap-vung-224762.htm