Vietnam is less attractive to global retailers, failing to make the
list of top 30 developing countries for retail investment in the 2012
Global Retail Development Index, published by US-based consulting from
A.T. Kearney on June 12.
The slide down index is had news
for the domestic retail industry as it is the fourth consecutive year
that Vietnam has fallen in the rankings.
A.T. Kearney
ranked Vietnam as the world’s most attractive retail market in 2008
but it lowered the country’s ranking to 6 th and 23 rd in 2009 and
2011.
Many in the domestic retail sector are not surprised
at A.T. Kearney’s latest report, saying that the economic crises have
sharply reduced Vietnam ’s consumption demand, causing many retailers
to scale back operations during the past year.
Economist
Pham Chi Lan said that Vietnam ’s retail market last year grew by
only 5 percent, much lower than the impressive rate or more than 20
percent several years ago.
Vietnam Association of
Supermarkets chairman Vu Vinh Phu attributed the domestic sector’s slide
to increasingly heavy overhead for retailers, the overly complex system
of administrative procedures and a lack of a comprehensive master plan
for the development of the retail industry.
Phu said
comprehensive measures ranging from stabilising the macro economy to
raising labour productivity and tackling monopolies are needed to
revitalize the sector.