Photo: Uniqlo

 Mitsubishi Corporation partners with Fast Retailing Co. to launch UNIQLO's retail business in Vietnam.

The Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) announced on August 30 it has partnered with the Fast Retailing Co. to launch and develop UNIQLO’s retail business in Vietnam from Fall 2019.

The companies will launch the business together by opening the first UNIQLO fashion store in Ho Chi Minh City, establishing the UNIQLO brand in the country’s most populous city before considering other areas. Recruiting of local talent will commence immediately in preparation for the opening of the first UNIQLO store in one of Southeast Asia’s most exciting, high-growth economies.

Singapore’s Fast Retailing Co. opened its first UNIQLO store in Singapore in 2009, signaling the start of its business in the Southeast Asia and Oceania region. UNIQLO then launched retail operations in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Australia. As at the end of May 2018, the company had 193 UNIQLO stores in the Southeast Asia and Oceania region.

MC began operating in Vietnam in 1955 and the company has been expanding its businesses in a wide range of industries, including automobiles and industrial machinery.

Vietnam will be the fourth country in which MC and Fast Retailing have established a joint venture company (with capital contributions of 25 and 75 per cent), following Thailand in 2011, Indonesia in 2013, and Russia in 2017. UNIQLO’s business had grown to 39 stores in Thailand, 18 stores in Indonesia, and 29 stores in Russia as at the end of May.

Moreover, the Japanese corporation also intends to invest in an electric vehicle production factory in Vietnam, a reception held by Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue for Mr. Hiroshi Sakuma, Deputy Chairman of Mitsubishi, on August 29 in Hanoi heard.

The corporation is assessing the possibility of the project and expects new regulations on environmental tariffs to boost its investment of the plant.

It is also investing in the Vung Ang 2 BOT thermal power plants with a capacity of 1,200 MW and Vinh Tan 3 with a capacity of 1,980 MW. Mr. Sakuma said the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the group signed an investment agreement in early 2017, including land lease and power purchase contacts.

The corporation expects the government will soon resolve ceiling restrictions on early termination payment forms for loans and obstacles in tax incentives to put the projects into operation, which will then increase electricity supply in Vietnam.

Deputy Prime Minister Hue said the projects have an important role to play in Vietnam and he highly appreciated the investment activities of Mitsubishi in the fields of energy, infrastructure, trade and services. In particular, the government attaches great importance to the Vung Ang 2 thermal power project and has agreed on the foreign currency conversion article of this project.

He expects Mitsubishi will make efforts to implement the necessary works so the two sides can sign a cooperation arrangement on implementing the Vung Ang 2 and Vinh Tan 3 projects in October, when Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc will visit Japan.

by Minh Do