Photo: baodautu.vn

The plan was announced by Wallaya Chirathivat, chairwoman of Central Group, on September 18 during Vietnam Week in Thailand 2026.

“Vietnam is one of the top-priority markets in our international strategy, with plans to invest an additional $1.5 billion over the next decade. It is also a particularly important market for us,” Wallaya said.

Central Group entered Vietnam through Central Retail in 2012 and has since built a portfolio of retail brands including GO!, Tops Market, Lan Chi Mart, and Supersports. The group currently operates more than 300 stores and shopping centres across 26 cities and provinces.

Central Group has invested around $1.5 billion in Vietnam to date. The planned additional investment would therefore bring its total investment in the country to around $3 billion over the coming years.

Wallaya attributed the group’s continued expansion to three main factors: Vietnam’s economic growth, its large and increasingly consumption-oriented population, and the potential to expand modern retail beyond the country’s major urban centres.

According to her, Vietnam’s economy is growing by 8-10 per cent annually, while its population has surpassed 100 million. Consumers are increasingly open to modern retail formats and willing to spend through organised retail channels.

The country’s geographical structure, stretching from north to south and anchored by major growth centres such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang, also provides room for retail businesses to expand into a wider range of provinces and cities.

“We have agreements with Sun Group and other local businesses to study and develop projects,” Wallaya said.

Olivier Langlet, CEO of Central Retail Vietnam, said the new investment would focus mainly on retail and shopping centres, alongside hospitality. The company has identified around 200 potential locations in urban areas for further assessment.

“Our team is very busy looking for suitable locations and land plots to develop projects. It is a huge amount of work,” Langlet said.

In hospitality, the group operates the 984-room Centara Mirage Resort Mui Ne in Lam Dong, which opened in 2020, and is developing two additional hotels in Van Don, Quang Ninh, which are expected to add around 1,000 rooms.

The expansion comes as Vietnam’s retail market continues to grow and attract international operators. According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, the domestic retail market was worth around $269 billion in 2025.

The ministry expects total retail sales of goods and consumer services to reach VND11.5-12.5 quadrillion, equivalent to around $450 billion, by 2030. Based on the ministry’s projected annual growth rate of 10-12 per cent, the market could reach around $326 billion by 2027.

International retailers have been accelerating their expansion as consumer spending and modern retail penetration increase.

Earlier this month, Japanese retailer AEON Vietnam said purchasing power in Vietnam was currently equivalent to around 80 per cent of Japan’s level and could reach 120-130 per cent in the coming years. The group is targeting a significant expansion of its business in Vietnam by 2030 and has identified the country as a key market in ASEAN.

Vietnam is also becoming increasingly important to Central Retail’s business. According to the group’s first-half financial results, its operations in Vietnam generated more than 24 billion baht (around $721 million), in revenue during the first six months of this year.

Vietnam accounted for around 20 per cent of Central Retail’s total revenue and remained its second-largest market after Thailand.

The planned investment also comes as Vietnam and Thailand mark the 50^th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year.

As of the end of August 2026, Thai investors had 824 projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of more than $15.47 billion, according to the Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Finance. Thailand is currently Vietnam’s second-largest source of investment from ASEAN and ninth-largest globally.