A retail network comprising over 1,000 supermarkets and shoppingcentres is to be built in Hanoi by 2020 to serve the needs of itscitizens, Vice Director of Hanoi’s Department of Industry and Trade TranThi Phuong Lan has said.

Accordingly, under the tradedevelopment programme, 988 supermarkets and 64 shopping centres ofvarious kinds will be built in the capital by 2020, funded by foreigncapital, domestic funds and government capital.

Lan said thebasements and ground floors of existing buildings can be converted intotrade centres, stating that supermarkets and shopping centres would notbe built on entirely new plots of land in the inner-city areas of Hanoi.

The city would develop traditional markets into shopping centres, she added.

The project is part of Hanoi’s socio-economic development plan for2020, with a vision to 2030. The scale of the supermarket network willbe determined by population density and distance from other retailers.

The department will reassess the city’s infrastructure aftertwo years of implementation to have a clearer overview of futuredevelopment needs.

Hanoi’s population is expected to reach 9.4million, with a per capita income of 7,500 USD by 2020 and 17,000 USD by2030. In the next ten years, the city will expand its wholesale andretail system by 864 supermarkets and 36 shopping centers.-VNA