Thinh Vuong Investment Company recently kicked off the Lam Son Square trade centre project in the center of Vung Tau.

The project, capitalized at hundreds of billions of dong, covers an area of 5000 square metres. When it becomes operational in April 2011, there will be 21,200 square metres of retail premises. The investor does not intend to build apartments and will reserve all eight floors for developing a shopping mall.

Other real estate developers, besides marketing apartments, have also paid attention to trade centres. Real estate experts believe that Vung Tau’s retail premises market will rapidly develop in the time to come.

The Bau Sen building project plans three floors with 15,000 square metres for a shopping mall. Vung Tau Plaza will also reserve 8000 square metres for high-end shopping, while Son Thinh Tower will have 5000 square metres for a trade centre.

The real estate developers remarked that they build trade centres not only to serve residents, but also to serve tourists who come to the beautiful city.

Huynh Trung Tan, Chair of Thinh Vuong Company, emphasized that Vung Tau is a reasonable place to develop retailing. The city’s GDP is among the highest levels in Vietnam, while the seaside city is also a famous tourist site, where residents from HCM City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and other provinces come regularly.

Real estate analysts agree that Vung Tau has become more and more attractive in the eyes of retailers, which explains why the retail market has been developing very rapidly. Prior to 2006, Vung Tau had no high-end shopping centre and supermarket. The first high grade shopping mall opened in early 2007 – Imperial Plaza, with a total area of 7500 square metres. In early 2008, Co-op Mart opened 10,000 square metres at Hodeco Plaza buildin

According to Saigon Co-op, the owner of Co-op Mart, Co-op Mart Vung Tau is one of the three supermarkets with the highest turnover in the chain. In the first five months of 2010, Co-op Mart Vung Tau reported revenue of over 130 billion dong, an increase of 35 percent over the same period of 2009.

Source: Thoi bao Kinh te Saigon