AEON plans to quadruple sourcing from Vietnam

AEON executives told the Ministry of Industry and Trade officials at a meeting in Hanoi last week that the company would first double the value of products it procures from Vietnam from the current level to $500 million next year, the government website reported.

The total value of Vietnamese goods imported for AEON outlets in Japan rose 7.6 percent in 2018 to $245 million, with clothing accounting for 55 percent, the company said.

Yasuo Nishitoghe, general director of AEON Vietnam, said his company would provide technical support to Vietnamese suppliers to enable them to meet its and Japanese quality standards.

"Food has room to grow further," Eiji Shibata, executive officer and chief merchandising and logistics officer at AEON, told Kyodo News. Food makes up around 70 percent of the retailer’s total sales in Japan, he said. 

AEON has four shopping malls in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and the southern province of Binh Duong.

It is building one mall each in Hanoi and the northern city of Hai Phong, and hopes to have 20 in the country by 2020.