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.