Retail sales in 2009 recorded a 19 percent rise year on year, to almost 1,200 trillion VND.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) has reported that the retail industry has contributed almost 15 percent of the gross domestic product over recent years. It has also provided permanent jobs for over 5.4 million workers, over 10 percent of the national workforce.

The Head of the Domestic Market Department under the MIT, Hoang Tho Xuan, reported that despite its relatively small scale, the Vietnamese retail market is still attractive to investors, especially foreigners, for consecutively being ranked high in the retail development index for a number of years

The country came fourth in the consumer confidence index in October, 2009, against 11 th position in April, says the Nielsen Company. The market lies just behind India, Indonesia and Norway.

The retail industry aims to increase its gross revenues by 20 percent year on year to reach 1,440 trillion VND in 2010 while keeping the consumer price index under 7 percent./.