Modern and online shopping channels recorded strong growth last year and will continue to thrive this year, according to experts.

Despite a raft of difficulties facing Vietnam’s retail market, economists and insiders are still optimistic about the outlook for the sector in the time ahead, according to the Vietnam Report JSC.

VOV.VN - With the COVID-19 pandemic causing plenty of difficulties for production and business activities and the added value of the industrial sector in Q1 set to endure a slight fall, the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) is striving to help the sector achieve a growth rate of 9.45% and export growth of up to 5%.

The local retail market is forecast to grow at a double-digit rate in 2021, so domestic retailers have rushed to open new stores across the country to expand their market share since the beginning of the year.

VOV.VN - A variety of local goods have hit the shelves of supermarkets, shopping centres, and convenience store chains such as Vinmart, Bach Hoa Xanh, Co.opmart, and BRG Mart in an effort to meet the shopping demands of people ahead of the Lunar New Year, known locally as Tet.

HCM City’s economy saw a variety of bright spots in the opening month of 2021 despite the ongoing complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Total retail sales of goods and revenue from consumer services in January are estimated at VND479.9 trillion (nearly US$20.77 billion), up 3.7% month-on-month and 6.4% year-on-year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Deeper integration into the global value chain while developing an increasingly independent and self-controlled economy are both a requirement and a solution to help Vietnam overcome the challenges to realise its goal of rapid and sustainable development, according to Party Central Committee and Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.

Hanoi will carry out an array of industry and trade development measures with a view to building the capital city into an international trade hub in the region and the country, as well as concretising the resolution adopted at the municipal Party Organisation's 17th congress.

A leader of Ho Chi Minh City has pledged to support the expansion of the Japanese global apparel retailer Uniqlo in the southern largest economic hub.